Five years ago, Attorney Terry Young became involved with Legal Action of Wisconsin’s Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP), working on the Tenants’ Rights Project. Young, who works as Assistant General Counsel & Assistant Secretary for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, said he was drawn to pro bono work by a deeply rooted core value of helping others, a value he observed in his parents, and by his faith, which teaches the importance of giving to those in need. He noted that he has had to the good fortune to work for companies that encourage their employees to volunteer.
In his pro bono work, Young regularly meets with VLP clients who have landlord-tenant problems and evaluates their cases. He may give them advice about how to pursue their claims or defenses pro se, or he may represent them himself. “I was drawn to landlord-tenant law because it’s an area where there can be a lot of abuses because so many people are unaware of their rights,” said Young.