Frank Young founded the firm's litigation practice in 1974 and currently serves as Chair of the Litigation Practice Group. His practice encompasses representation of plaintiffs and defendants in all types of civil litigation, with particular concentrations in the areas of commercial litigation, products liability, aviation litigation, employment litigation and healthcare litigation. In addition, he heads the firm's international law practice and served as the first chair of the Alabama State Bar's International Law Section. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, Mr. Young was recognized in the Birmingham Business Journal's "Best of the Bar" poll in International Law, and he is currently recognized in The Best Lawyers in America in International Trade and Finance Law and in Commercial Litigation. He is also listed in Alabama Super Lawyers.
As the firm's primary representative to TAGLaw, an international network of attorneys and law firms, Mr. Young was instrumental in establishing the firm's China practice relationships with the firm of Baker & Daniels, an international law firm with offices in Beijing and Qingdao, China. In addition, in 2005 Mr. Young was part of the City of Birmingham's Sister Cities Official Delegation to Anshan and Beijing, China.
Mr. Young has augmented his practice with extensive involvement in civic and community affairs, including service as chair and president of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, as chair of the Birmingham Committee on Foreign Relations, as president of the Metropolitan Arts Council, Operation New Birmingham, the Birmingham Business Assistance Network, the Black Warrior - Cahaba River Land Trust and the Cahaba River Society, as a director or trustee of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the Society of International Business Fellows and Miles College, and as a member of the Norton Board of Advisors of the Birmingham-Southern College School of Business, where he chairs the International Committee. In 1999, he received the L. Burton Barnes Community Service Award from the Birmingham Bar Association. He was also named Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by the Cumberland School of Law in 1991 and received the Community Service Award of The Rotary Club of Birmingham in 1988. In 2007, he was named president of the American Committees on Foreign Relations, and in 2008, he was named to the Honor Roll for Excellence in Foreign Languages and International Engagement by the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.
Mr. Young served in 1969 as Law Clerk to United States District Judge H.H. Grooms, Northern District of Alabama, and practiced with a large firm in Birmingham before joining Haskell Slaughter shortly after the firm was founded. In addition to his legal practice, he has been involved in entrepreneurial business ventures and venture capital investing, and has served on the boards of directors and audit committees of public companies listed on the American and New York Stock Exchanges and of privately held companies.
Publications/Speaking Engagements
"Insurance Regulation: Unfreezing the Traditional Barriers", Cumberland Law Review, 1970
"Climbing the Partnership Mountain", "Negotiating Skills", and "What Do You Want to Know About Career - Past, Present and Future", TAGLaw's Professional Skills Course, St. Petersburg, Florida, November 2011.
"Developing a Strategic Plan for China", The Rotary Club of Birmingham, 2005
"The Importance of China in the World Economy". Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, 2005
"Advising U.S. Firms in Complex International Business and Litigation Matters in China", Seventeenth Washington Seminar on U.S. - China Relations, US - China Peoples Friendship Association, 2006
Professional Affiliations
American Bar Association
Alabama State Bar (Chair, International Law Section, 1996 - 1997)
Birmingham Bar Association
Society of International Business Fellows (Board of Directors, 1988 - 1996)
Birmingham Committee on Foreign Relations (Chair)
American Committees on Foreign Relations (President)