Editor’s note: This is part of a series of Q&As with leading women in the legal profession, in honor of National Women’s History Month. They were conducted and written by the law firm recruiting company Major, Lindsey & Africa.

Courtney Capute, partner in charge in Venable’s Baltimore office, has spent her entire career at the firm. She started in the real estate practice group and found a home there. Transactional law fit her skill set and personality, particularly after she came to appreciate how real property and zoning issues could drive the development of a neighborhood when she and her husband purchased a rowhouse in Baltimore’s Fells Point. She became a nonequity partner in 1996 and converted to equity partner shortly thereafter. Her practice is multifaceted; she represents hotel brands and other businesses in the acquisition and sale of hotel properties and in the negotiation of their hotel management agreements. She also represents CMBS special services lenders in loan restructurings and defaults. She is a member of the Venable Expansion Committee and co-chairs Venable’s Hospitality Industry Sector Initiative.