Local attorney Fred Taylor has been named to the annual “Top 40 Under 40” list by Inside Business.

“It’s really a compliment,” he said recently. “I’m definitely humbled by it. There’s a lot of people out there that have done more and worked a lot harder than I have.”

The annual list honors 40 young business people in Hampton Roads who are successful in their careers and involved in the community. A dinner was hosted for the honorees Oct. 9 at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott.

Taylor has worked at law firm Stallings, Bush and Randall for the last three and a half years. At only 29 years old, he considers himself blessed to have “landed a great job after finishing school and passing the bar.”

Taylor grew up in Suffolk and graduated from Nansemond River High School in 2001. He attended Old Dominion University and then moved on to law school at Mercer University in Georgia.

A defense lawyer, Taylor’s profession informs the organizations where he chooses to be involved — the Boys and Girls Club, the Suffolk Education Foundation and the Suffolk Youth Athletic Association, where he is a volunteer coach.

“I see every day in my job the worst in society, the worst in situations gone wrong,” Taylor said. “The key to ending youth crime in our city and elsewhere is getting youth into programs like the Boys and Girls Club.”

Taylor has been on the Suffolk Unit Advisory Board since 2009. The club provides a safe place for children to stay after school and during the summer and provides a meal, enrichment opportunities and more.

“The only way to turn the bad things around is our youth,” Taylor said.

That’s also the reason for his work with the Suffolk Education Foundation, he said. The foundation raises funds for teachers and students to be able to do projects and activities that otherwise would go unfunded.

“I’ve always been a huge proponent of education,” he said. “We owe it to ourselves to give back with the youth of our community to get them on the right track.”

Taylor’s passion for history also motivates him to participate in the Suffolk-Nansemond Historical Society, where he is vice president. He’s also a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

“I’ve always been a history buff,” he said. “Literally every spot that you walk on here is some type of sacred ground.”

He said Suffolk has some of the best-preserved Civil War sites in Virginia, “probably in the country,” he added, naming Riddick’s Folly and several earthworks forts around the city.

“There’s the old saying that if you don’t know your history, you’re doomed to repeat it,” he said.

Taylor’s wife, Adrienne, is pregnant with the couple’s first child, a son. They also have a cat and a rescue beagle.