L I U Legal is a Wellington law firm based on Level 3, 44 Victoria Street in the CBD, and its name is also its promise: the Lawyer who takes Initiatives to achieve the Ultimate for you. Principal Penny Liu has spent more than a decade helping clients through legal matters spanning property, trusts, immigration and commercial and company law, and her dedication to clients has generated a loyal following — she is known to abandon the office (and the weekend) to complete urgent work or simply to cheer someone up when they need it.
The firm deliberately keeps things simple for clients, offering fixed pricing on most of its services so people can budget their legal affairs with confidence; only extremely complex commercial and immigration matters sit outside the fixed-price model, and a quote can be requested before you commit.
Penny's expertise is unusually broad, covering property purchases and sales, business acquisitions, franchising, commercial leasing, shareholders' agreements, wealth protection, trusts, relationship property, estate planning and Investor Category visa applications. She is described as the only lawyer in Wellington who speaks both Cantonese and Mandarin fluently, advising clients in New Zealand and overseas across a number of different communities.
Beyond client work, L I U Legal is committed to giving back: Penny provides free information to communities on different areas of the law through the firm's YouTube channel and other social media forums, alongside its light-hearted "Confessions of a Lawyer" resources.
L I U Legal works from Level 3, 44 Victoria Street in the heart of Wellington's CBD, and the firm's name is also its promise: the Lawyer who takes Initiatives to achieve the Ultimate for you. Principal Penny Liu built the practice around that idea after more than a decade of helping clients through legal matters spanning property, trusts, immigration and commercial and company law. Her dedication has generated a loyal following of clientele, and the firm's approach is deliberately straightforward: understand what you need, then take every initiative to fulfil it.
One of the most practical expressions of that approach is pricing. L I U Legal offers fixed pricing on most of its services, deliberately, so clients can budget their legal affairs with confidence. Only extremely complex commercial and immigration matters sit outside the fixed-price model — and even then, you can request a quote before committing.
The firm's name is a nod to Penny's heritage. Liu is one of the most common surnames in China, and it traces back more than 2,000 years to the emperor Bang Liu, who reunited a fractured China, saved the people from relentless warfare and suffering, and took the initiative to focus on the welfare of his people — building one of the longest-lasting empires in Chinese history. Two thousand years later, Penny carries that name and its rich history to New Zealand, and L I U Legal was born from those same ancestry traits: taking initiatives, and working toward lasting, stable results for the people the firm serves.
Penny is a genuinely wide-ranging lawyer. Her specialities run from the purchase and sale of businesses, franchising, licencing, commercial leasing and shareholders' agreements through to wealth protection, trusts, relationship property agreements, estate planning and immigration. Her depth and breadth of knowledge is described as unparalleled: she is practical and efficient, yet a champion of the fine details, and she hates nothing more than having missed something, no matter how small.
She is also, by the firm's account, the only lawyer in Wellington who speaks both Cantonese and Mandarin fluently — a real advantage for Chinese-speaking clients buying homes, setting up trusts or applying for visas in New Zealand. A skilful participant in different worlds, Penny advises clients overseas, in New Zealand and across a number of different communities, all while fully belonging to and participating in each one.
And she goes the extra mile: Penny can often be found abandoning the office (and the weekend) to complete urgent work or fulfil a cultural obligation — or simply to cheer someone up when they need it.
The core services fall into four areas. On the property side, the firm specialises in purchases and sales, subdivisions, relationship property and separation agreements, enduring powers of attorney, wills and refinancing — the right residential advice to get you in (or out) of your home quickly and easily.
For commercial clients of every size, advice is tailored to suit and the process is kept simple: commercial contract reviews, terms and conditions, supply contracts, commercial leasing, franchising, business acquisitions and sales, partnership agreements, shareholders' agreements, company constitutions, construction contracts, trademark registration and commercial financing.
Trusts work centres on getting structures right: family trusts and charitable trusts are established correctly to ensure the best protection for clients. In immigration, the firm specialises in Investor Category visa applications, treating each application with high priority and great care so a process that can be stressful and complicated feels easy.
Penny is dedicated to providing free information to communities on different areas of the law, through the firm's YouTube channel and other social media forums, alongside the "Confessions of a Lawyer" resources on the website. If you're weighing up a house purchase, a trust, a business deal or a visa application, it's a low-pressure place to start learning.
You can call L I U Legal on 04 471 0740, email Penny.liu@liulegal.co.nz, or send a message through the website to request a fixed-price quote. The office is at Level 3, 44 Victoria Street, Wellington 6011. Whether you want to purchase a house, sell one, set up a trust, buy a business or protect your assets, the starting point is the same: a conversation about the ultimate result you want to achieve.