Workhorse Catalog Case — Black

The Workhorse is a hand-carried leather catalog case for the proceeding most of practice actually consists of — the deposition, the motion hearing, the contract negotiation, the closing — where the file is heavy, the room is small, and wheels would be an announcement nobody asked for.

Most matters never reach trial. The deposition has an arithmetic of its own: three or four copies of every exhibit — witness, opposing counsel, court reporter, and one marked up for you — each in its own folder, in the order you mean to ask about them. Not a large file. A small one, multiplied.

What goes in is privileged before it is anything else: work product, client confidences, and an outline that shows your theory of the case to anyone who opens it. It travels through parking garages, security lines, and conference rooms you don't control. Three-dial combination locks, one per latch, are the least ceremonious way to take that seriously — no key to hand off, and none to leave behind.

It comes in two lengths, 18 and 20 inches. At 13 to 14 inches tall it's sized to a laptop rather than a standing file. Both lengths take legal pads and legal-size documents lengthwise; the 20-inch additionally takes legal-size folders lying flat with room either side. Two full-length expanding partitions keep exhibits, pleadings, and your own outline apart, and it carries in one hand on a steel-core leather handle over a riveted frame — several hundred trips a year, from the car to the conference room and back.

A deposition happens across a table rather than across a courtroom. The case doesn't make the record, but producing the right exhibit, foldered and in order, without a pause, tells opposing counsel something about how the rest of the matter has been handled.

• Top-grain American leather, handcrafted in the Dominican Republic
• Riveted heavy-gauge steel frame
• Three-dial combination locks, one per latch
• Two full-length expanding partitions
• Takes legal pads and legal-size (8.5" x 14") documents lengthwise
• Business organizer beneath the lid
• Fits laptops up to 17"
• Solid brass hardware, nickel finish
• 18": 18"L x 8"W x 13"H
• 20": 20"L x 9"W x 14"H

Deciding between an arm and wheels? Read The Catalog Case: Hand Carry or Wheeled?

Built for the daily circuit and the deposition room, not the multi-day trial haul — for the same case on wheels, with the height for standing files, see the Litigator Wheeled Catalog Case.

Questions we get

Is it right for trial work, contracts and closings? Yes — those are the proceedings it was built for. A deposition's three or four copies of every exhibit, a closing with the whole file in order, a contract negotiation where the drafts and the markups have to stay apart. Two full-length expanding partitions keep them separated, and it hand-carries into a small room without the announcement wheels make. For the multi-day trial haul, that is the Litigator.

Will it take legal pads and legal-size documents? Yes, lengthwise, in both lengths. The 18-inch case is 18 inches across, so a legal pad or a legal-size document at 8.5 by 14 inches lies flat with four inches to spare. The 20-inch adds room either side and takes full legal-size folders lying flat.

Should I choose the 18-inch or the 20-inch Workhorse? Both take a laptop up to 17 inches, both take legal pads and legal-size documents lengthwise, and both share the same top-grain leather, riveted frame, expanding partitions, organizer and locks. The 20-inch is two inches longer, an inch deeper and an inch taller, and takes full legal-size folders lying flat. The 18-inch is about a pound and a half lighter, the easier daily carry. If you carry full legal-size folders, take the 20; if you want the lighter case for the car-to-conference-room circuit, take the 18.

Will it hold a full deposition file? Yes, and it is built for exactly that arithmetic. Two full-length expanding partitions keep three or four copies of every exhibit separated rather than stacked, so the folder you want comes out in the pause after a question instead of four minutes later. In the 20-inch, legal-size folders lie flat lengthwise with room either side.

Does it lock? Yes — three-dial combination locks, one per latch. What goes into a catalog case is privileged before it is anything else, and a case that latches without locking is a case you cannot leave in a conference room while you take a call.

Does it hold a laptop as well as the file? Yes, up to 17 inches, alongside the file rather than instead of it. The business organizer beneath the lid takes the cables and adapters that have to come out at security anyway.

Does it stand up on its own? Yes. The riveted heavy-gauge steel frame holds its shape empty as readily as full, so it sits squarely beside counsel table rather than slumping against a chair leg.

Should I be getting wheels instead? Not for the one-floor office circuit, which is what this case is for — hand-carried, short walks, small rooms. If your week runs to trial days and airports, the Litigator is the same case on the same frame with a telescoping handle. We argue the choice in The Catalog Case: Hand Carry or Wheeled?

Barrister & Bespoke Curated Collection — hand-selected from Korchmar, an American leather workshop, for its craftsmanship and fit within our world. Curated pieces carry their maker's own identity rather than ours; our house collection, designed and branded exclusively for Barrister & Bespoke, is marked separately throughout the shop.

Warranty. This Product carries Korchmar's five-year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship, and Barrister & Bespoke's own Thirty-Day Assurance for the first thirty days after delivery. Full terms, including how to make a claim, are stated in our Warranty Policy.