 He is a third generation Chinese American.His father, Presbyterian minister and Seattle-native Paul Louie, was one of three founders of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California and a member of the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission.Louie attended Occidental College in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles where he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1973 before attending Boalt Hall School of Law at University of California, Berkeley where he obtained his Juris Doctor in 1977.