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Not entirely by his own design, Stephen is the neighborhood business owners’ kid that made good. He is the cousin who likely would have happily stepped into the family restaurant business but instead got into law school and came out alive.
Despite what appears to be worlds away from the food and beverage business, what has stuck to him in all these years is the belief in ‘serving up’ the same customer focused service. Carved onto his heart is the unwavering calling to be a comforter and encourager for hard-working immigrant families overwhelmed by the very legal system that is meant to protect. To solve real-life problems, to bring peace of mind into business operations, and to utilize and explain in plain English (or Chinese) the legal system as a resourceful tool rather than a perceived stumbling block to making sound financial decisions – these are goals included in the mission that keeps Stephen hungry for becoming better at what he does each day.
Stephen is currently splits his time between his private law practice and as as staff Legal Counsel YWAM San Francisco in the Tenderloin where he and his family also reside. Stephen has served as legal counsel to a San Francisco based community bank advising on banking law and consumer compliance. He also serves as pro-bono Legal Counsel for an Asian American hospice care non-profit organization. Previously he served as VP and Corporate Counsel to a technology start-up, where he handled the corporate governance, private placement, all vendor and customer contracts, leasing and all day to day legal matters.
Stephen’s cross-border transactions experience was honed while serving as Foreign Legal Counsel at King and Wood Mallesons in Beijing, one of Asia-Pacific’s largest law firms. Stephen’s areas of practice include estate planning, business law and immigration. Stephen holds a Juris Doctorate from Santa Clara University School of Law; he holds a Master’s of Law (LLM) from Peking University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is fluent in English and speaks Mandarin. He has been licensed to practice law in California 2003.
3 Reviews on “Stephen Lou”
I have engaged Stephen Lou for various living trust matters and I find him to be a trustworthy and practical lawyer. Too often laws can make non-lawyers freeze up but with his guidance you can get “unstuck” and protect your family with a living trust and power of attorney. He can explain legal jargon in simple and understandable ways. I highly recommend Lou Lawyers for living trust and trust administration needs.
I contacted Stephen Lou regarding trust matters for my wife and me. The some of the words that come to mind when I reflect on Stephen are integrity, honesty and trustworthy, competent, knowledgeable, patient, diligent, attention to detail, professional and very personable. Well, you get the point. There is really no area that was not in the excellent category. We were taken step-by-step through the process, everything was thoroughly explained in advance, so we had no surprises. He also was extraordinarily diligent in follow up, making sure we stayed on track. We received careful instructions and these instructions were reviewed. Mr. Lou was always prepared and was ready for the next step when we were. In addition, he listened to our needs and concerns with care and thoughtfulness. Really, it was a rather unique experience, since we are conditioned to expect less personal attention from attorneys. Stephen was delightful to work with throughout, and in spite of all this, surprisingly, was very reasonable in his charges to us.
I would highly recommend him to any friend or family member.
We hired Stephen Lou to complete our Trust and I can echo the same thoughts as the other reviewers: Stephen is someone with integrity and honesty, someone who is trustworthy, competent, knowledgeable, diligent, pays attention to detail, professional and very personable. But most of all, Stephen is patient and kind. Stephen understands that he is the guy that knows the legal jargon but knows how to explain things in simple and understandable ways. He does not intimidate you as the stereotypical attorney would (like many attorneys I’ve worked with in the past). He has a very sweet spirit, and did I mention how patient he is!? He had to send us many reminder -follow up emails, when we were behind on getting our paperwork to him but did it with such grace and professionalism, and never made us feel bad for delaying the process. I can’t say enough good things about Stephen and will highly recommend him to anyone that needs his services. Thank you Stephen Lou!