aba women rainmakers

In an article for Law Practice Today‘s ABA Women Rainmakers series, Andi Cullins interviews the top women partners of Morris Manning & Martin’s DC office about success and managing a work-life balance.

By Andi Cullins | June 14, 2016

Let’s put it out there, ladies: Work-life balance in the professional realm is as precarious as maintaining the perfect pair of pantyhose. It takes a lot of care and a bit of luck, because life is full of situations that can spell ruin. Finding it isn’t so much a tale of the Superwomen as it is about wise choices and the necessity for fantastic support. It’s about learning to leverage, not just in billing rates, but in personal situations, and it’s about lessons learned and wisdom harvested.

“No one asks men about work life balance,” Carol Weld King remarked when I told her the topic of this article. “Perhaps it’s generational,” she allowed. “Twenty years ago nobody talked about it. Today, it’s crystal clear that 20- and 30–somethings, men and women, are more focused on how they fit their professional lives into their private lives. I’m not sure the firms are doing anything different, but the topic arises because

[in general]we do see an absence of balance.” Something else that may not have changed as much as we would all like is the implicit bias we harbor, the stubborn notion that childcare is primarily the mother’s province. Add to that the demands of being a partner and a rainmaker. That’s a tall order. And yet, there are those who find success in both those realms. This article focuses on four women rainmakers who work together, but who took very different paths in rainmaking and in motherhood, and in balancing the two.

By any of the traditionally accepted measures, the women partners of Morris Manning & Martin’s Washngton, DC office qualify as rainmakers. All of them have long lists of accolades that include listings in Chambers, Super Lawyers, Legal 500, Best Lawyers in America, the Washington Business Journal and The Washingtonian’s Top Lawyers. Some have singular honors, like Carol Weld King’s Americas Lodging Investment Summit’s (ALIS) Development of the Year 2014 and Single Asset Transaction of the Year, and Betsy Karmin’s recognition in D.C.’s Legal Elite by SmartCEO magazine, or Julie Mendoza’s award for Leading Women in Business Law, Leading International Trade Lawyers and The Best of the Best USA. Litigator Bonnie Rothell has defended appeals all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. These women, individually and collectively, are on everyone’s list, and for good reason. The fact that they have all come to practice together is no coincidence.

Wendelin (Wendy) White (WW), chair of Morris Manning & Martin’s real estate practice group and co-managing partner of the firm’s DC office, and partner Betsy Karmin (BK) came to Morris Manning to practice together in 2013. They were soon joined by Carol Weld King (CWK), and the three formed the basis of the firm’s DC real estate team. Bonnie Hochman Rothel (BHR) also joined the firm in 2013 to build the litigation practice. Each of these women has also dealt with the issues of having and raising a family, as so many of us have. Among the group, their children range in age from a 10-year-old to recent college grads.

Tell me about the genesis of your rainmaking. How did it develop?

WW: “I grew up in a big firm. I was taught that my job was to do the work put in front of me. I wasn’t taught to be a rainmaker. But, I’m a relationship person. Even back then, I really cared about my clients. I always kept in touch with them. I would call them just to see how things were going, and [eventually]it really helped to make connections […]”

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To contact Andi, go to | Andi Cullins

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