A broad legal skillset: Lawrence Wong
Kannangara Thomson partner Lawrence Wong says that joining the firm has been a great move for him and his clients.
After 40 years in the law mostly at one larger Christchurch firm, Lawrence finds the relaxed and friendly environment at Kannangara Thomson refreshing. Having spent a significant part of his working life as a lawyer in suburban offices, Lawrence is a lawyer with a broad knowledge base across a wide range of areas of law. He assists clients with all of the following – the sale and purchase of residential and commercial property, business sales and purchases, asset protection and estate planning involving the use of family trusts, wills and enduring powers of attorney, company law matters and commercial leasing.
Growing up as someone overtly Chinese but as Kiwi as anyone else born in New Zealand, life wasn’t always easy for Lawrence. Born in the 1950s to a New Zealand mother of Chinese descent and a father born in China, he experienced occasional prejudice. As a child in Christchurch, Lawrence attended St Michael’s School where, within the school grounds he was largely insulated from that prejudice which he says he experienced more outside of the school grounds.
He then attended Christchurch Boys’ High School before attending Canterbury University, graduating in 1978 with a law degree. His early years in practice coincided with a new wave of Chinese immigrants, many of whom did not speak much English. One of the benefits of growing up in a Chinese/Kiwi family was that Lawrence learned conversational Cantonese, something which his clients were extremely grateful of in the late 1970s and 1980s. To this day, Lawrence retains the ability to converse in Cantonese which is of value to his large Chinese client base. Being at Kannangara Thomson has bought Lawrence back to his ethnic and legal roots. The firm’s byline ‘We Speak Your Language’ signifies the fact that there are as many as nine different languages spoken in the firm, but also the fact that the lawyers at Kannangara Thomson cut through all the traditional legal jargon lawyers are renowned for and explain matters to clients in plain English.
This is something which Lawrence finds refreshing and which, when added to the relaxed and congenial working environment, tells him that the move was a good one for him and his clients. Lawrence’s clients and former clients are invited to contact him on 03 377 4421 or email lawrence.wong@ktlaw.co.nz
