While 45 percent of associates at large law firms are women, just 16 percent of equity partners are women, according to a survey on the retention and promotion of female attorneys released Wednesday by the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL). The survey, NAWL's first on the issue, was completed by 103 of the 200 largest firms in the country and asked questions about partner status, governance roles and compensation. The results showed that about 16 percent of law firm governance committees are made up of women attorneys and 5 percent of managing partners are female. In interpreting the data, NAWL said that women have constituted 50 percent of law school graduates for more than 15 years. "In an era when partnerships are made within seven to 10 years of law school graduation, many in the legal profession had expected that, by now, there would be gender parity at all but the most senior levels of law firm partnerships," according to the survey....