West, Kristen

Attorney Grace A. Lou is a trusted advisor to her clients in the areas of trusts and estates, and corporate transactions. An advisor to high-net worth business owners both domestic and international (including China and Taiwan), she prepares and negotiates corporate and business agreements with an understanding of her clients' trust, estate, and gift planning, as well as business succession needs.

Specifically, Ms. Lou's trusts and estates services include estate planning, trust administration, and the settling of trust disputes. Her business transaction services include an array of complex business contract preparation and negotiation, including distribution, licensing, shareholder buy-sell, stock-redemption, employment, and other business agreements for both established business owners as well as entrepreneurs pursuing a start-up or other venture.

A former partner of a Southbay law firm, Ms. Lou applies her experience as a litigator to help her clients avoid costly court disputes arising from their business and estate matters. She has successfully represented clients at trial at both state and federal court levels. Moreover, she successfully argued her client's position before the Second Appellate District of the California Court of Appeals in the seminal case in California establishing a trustees' right to file a notice of appeal in pro per, Indyway Investment v. Cooper et. al., a decision certified for publication.

Ms. Lou earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she received honors for her legal research and writing, and her B.S. in social policy, magna cum laude, from Northwestern University. While at Georgetown, she served as an editor of the American Criminal Law Review and clerked for the Honorable Stanley Sporkin of the District Court for the District of Columbia.

She has done pro bono legal work on behalf of the Smithsonian Institute and various clients seeking political asylum. Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Asian Pacific Community Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization which raises money for grass-root organizations serving the Asian Pacific American community.

She is a member of the South Bay Estate Planning Council, the Asian Pacific American Women Lawyers Alliance, and the Taiwanese American Lawyers Association.