The thought of a happily married couple who work together as divorce attorneys may seem like the plot of a sitcom, but one pair of husband and wife lawyers would have it no other way.
Willem and Margaretha Gravett started their matrimonial law firm, Gravett & Gravett, last year with offices in White Plains and Mount Kisco after working for different firms in the metropolitan area for several years.
The couple met while in law school in South Africa, which is where they are from, when Willem tutored Margaretha in Latin, a requirement in South African law schools.
Willem eventually received a scholarship to study law at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., in 1997. Two months after going there, he flew back to South Africa during a break in October and the couple got married and came back to Notre Dame together.
“So my honeymoon was in South Bend, Indiana,” Margaretha joked.
The couple moved to New York later, where Willem took a job at a Manhattan firm. After receiving a law degree from New York University, Margaretha joined a matrimonial firm in White Plains.
The couple had always wanted to practice law together in a small, boutique firm and finally decided to start their own practice in July 2007.
Willem, who had previously worked in corporate law, said he was attracted to matrimonial law because it gave him the chance to do trial work.
“I always wanted to do litigation, and matrimonial law gives you that opportunity,” he said.
The couple said they often receive joking comments and good-natured ribbing when they tell people they are happily-married divorce attorneys.
“People say, ”˜you”™re married and you do what”™?” said Margaretha. “We don”™t even take our business cards to social events anymore.”
Both of them believe their intertwining of home and work life contributes to their ability to serve their clients.
“We know each other”™s strengths and weaknesses,” said Margaretha. “We”™re always talking about cases. We”™ll be bouncing ideas off one another while we”™re brushing our teeth.”
But the Gravett”™s know the importance of not talking about work all the time.
“We have date night once a week,” said Willem. “We have one rule that night: Don”™t talk about the office.”
