The Field Guide

How to Choose a Lawyer's Leather Briefcase

Two briefcases, one three-hundred-year-old reason lawyers still care what they carry — the real history of the barrister's red bag and the word "briefcase," and a field guide to choosing between En...

Catalog Cases for Trial: When to Hand-Carry and When to Roll

A catalog case exists for one reason — the matter outgrew what a briefcase could hold. The only real choice left is mechanical: carry it, or roll it. A field guide to Korchmar's Workhorse and Litig...

Leather Work Bags for Women Lawyers: A Tote or a Shoulder Bag

The bag that carries the working day, versus the one that carries everything else. Two Time Resistance pieces in full-grain Vachetta — and which belongs to which day.

Padfolio or Portfolio: Which One for Depositions, Court and Client Meetings

The smallest decision you will make before a deposition, and the one your client actually notices. A field guide to choosing between a padfolio and a portfolio.

Business Card Case or Card Wallet: What Each One Is For

The object you hand to someone, versus the one you keep to yourself. A field guide to choosing between a business card case and a card wallet.

Paper Planner or Calendar App: What Each Does That the Other Can't

Nearly every lawyer runs the calendar on a screen. This one does four things a book cannot — and a printed planner and a bound journal do three the screen cannot. The case for each, and which book ...

Fine or Medium Nib: Choosing a Fountain Pen Nib for Legal Work

The stroke width you choose once, and then write with for the next twenty years. A field guide to choosing a fountain pen nib.

Which Pen Should a Lawyer Sign With: Fountain, Rollerball or Ballpoint

Three formats, one hand, and only one of them belongs on a carbon-backed form. A field guide to choosing between a fountain pen, a rollerball and a ballpoint.

Why Pelikan Is Our Flagship Pen: The Lawyer's Go-To Pen

One design since 1950, a piston that fills from the bottle, and a gold nib tested by hand before it ships. Why the Pelikan Souverän is the pen we stock first, in fountain pen, rollerball and ballpo...

What to Give a Lawyer, and What a Lawyer May Accept

What to give a lawyer, and what a lawyer may accept. Gifts by occasion, from law school to retirement, with the rules on what a client, a colleague or a friend may give, cited.

What to Give a Judge, and Who May Give It

What to give a judge, and who may give it. The gift for an investiture, a new term, a retirement, an award or the holidays, and the rules on who may give, cited.

A Cigar, Counselor?

The profession's oldest closing ceremony — and the four instruments it actually requires. A field guide to the cigar ritual for the practicing lawyer.

How to Season a Cigar Humidor, and Hold the Climate After

A new humidor must be seasoned before use. Wipe the Spanish cedar with distilled water, charge the humidifier, and close the humidor over a dish of distilled water for 48 to 72 hours — then confirm...

S.T. Dupont, Xikar, or a Cheap Torch: Which Cigar Lighter Works for You?

What an S.T. Dupont buys over a Xikar or a cheap torch, which cigar lighter you may fly with under FAA and TSA rules, and how to tell a genuine S.T. Dupont from a counterfeit.