Husband-and-wife attorneys Mark Jane and Heather Garvock, who met at 2009 Washtenaw County Bar Association Holiday Wine Tasting, are pictured at the 2014 annual event.
By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Attorneys Mark Jane and Heather Garvock are big believers in bar association activities – one such event brought the two of them together.
The couple, who met at a December 2009 Washtenaw County Bar Association Holiday Wine Tasting at Paesano’s Restaurant & Wine Bar in Ann Arbor, and got married on April 2, 2011, at Ann Arbor’s Gandy Dancer restaurant.
“I often tell people that’s another reason to get involved in a bar association, because you never know who you might meet,” Jane says. “We enjoy the Wine Tasting each December – it’s an anniversary of sorts for us.”
The couple also enjoys attending the annual WCBA Annual Bar Revue, and the State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Summit.
A graduate of the University of Michigan and Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Jane is a senior attorney in Butzel Long's Ann Arbor office, focusing on ERISA, employee benefits, and executive compensation. Garvock is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and Wayne Law School and works as an immigration attorney in the Ann Arbor office of the Troy-based law firm of Ellis Porter.
Having two attorneys in the family has its scheduling challenges.
“We never know who might have to work late, but it’s always nice to have each other to lean on during stressful times since we both mutually appreciate the rigors that go into our careers,” Garvock says. “We try to leave work at the office, but because practicing law is so mobile nowadays, it can follow us.
“We frequently get into legal discussions – one of our favorite mutual pastimes – although we often see eye-to-eye, so there is little debate involved. Sometimes, one of us will play the devil’s advocate just to spice things up.”
She assists Jane from time-to-time with his officer duties as chairperson of the State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section Council, and as secretary of the Washtenaw County Bar Association; while he assists his wife with her duties as co-chair of the WCBA Immigration Law Section.
The couple usually celebrates Valentine’s Day by going out for dinner – “Sometimes with our daughter in tow,” says Jane, who also serves on the SBM Board of Commissioners. “This year, with Valentine’s Day on a Sunday, we might take a trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts – which is where we went on our first date.”
The two attorneys make their home in Ann Arbor, with their 4-year-old daughter who is not yet showing signs of wanting to enter the law.
“Thankfully not! She loves the TV show ‘Doc McStuffins,’ so medical school might be more for her – although there is still time for that to change,” Garvock says with a smile.
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