Mark S. Young

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Not knowing any lawyers growing up, attorney Mark Young wasn’t sure what to do after law school. But he did well by following the advice of his tort professors at Marquette, who advised him that, with his education in engineering, product liability would be a good fit.

He did that, from the defense side for eight years, but frequently representing the plaintiffs’ side pursuing subrogation claims for insurers. In 1985, he switched to plaintiffs work entirely, and joined Habush Habush & Rottier.

Young specializes in cases involving “engineering stuff??” — automobile accident reconstruction, automotive safety and crashworthiness, product liability, and construction and workplace methods and equipment.

His technical expertise placed him at the forefront of the development of strict product liability law in Wisconsin.

He represented the plaintiff in Green v. Smith & Nephew AHP (2001), in which the Supreme Court held that a latex glove manufacturer could be strictly liable for allergic reactions caused by its product, even though it was undisputed that the product was safe for its intended use, and that the defendant did not know of the defect, and could not have known of the defect.

The case resulted in revision of the standard jury instructions in product liability cases addressing the definition of when a product is defective and unreasonably dangerous.

Also, as chair of the Jury Instruction Committee for the Wisconsin Academy of Justice, he was a leader in amending the standard jury instruction stating a plaintiff’s burden of proof in a civil action, to eliminate the misleading term, “reasonable certainty.”

He also represented some of the plaintiffs in Wischer v. Mitsubishi, the Miller Park crane accident case, which resulted in the Wisconsin Supreme Court lowering the standard required for a jury to award punitive damages.

Young is also involved in the community, serving on the Board of Directors of After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, which provides free counseling to breast cancer patients and their families, and the Alliance Francaise de Milwaukee, which promotes French culture and events in Milwaukee.