Book of business is common parlance in the United States legal services sector and refers to the collection of clients that a lawyer (usually a partner) has assembled throughout their career. Since most U.S. law firms are organized as limited liability partnerships or professional corporations, each partner is usually responsible for acquiring their own clients in that partner's specific area of specialty. In the competitive legal market, especially in large city markets, partners are evaluated by committees of their fellow partners, with assistance of non-legal market and financial professionals, both in-house and outside the firm, on a yearly basis, which also sets guidelines on billable targets. An equity partner with a stagnant or declining book of business can be "de-equitized" or dem