Abriefcase or anattaché case (/əˈtæʃeɪ/) is a narrow hard-sided box-shapedbag or case used mainly for carrying papers and equipped with a handle.Lawyers commonly use briefcases to carrybriefs to present to a court, hence the name.[citation needed]Businesspeople and otherwhite collar professionals also use briefcases to carry papers, and since the 1980s, electronic devices such as laptop computers and tablet computers. Some briefcases have only a main internal space, while others may have subsections, accordion sections, small pockets, or dividers. Briefcases may be made from leather, vinyl, durable fabric, thin metal (such as aluminium), or plastic. Leather, vinyl, or fabric briefcases may have externally-accessible pockets or sleeves in addition to the main storage space. Some briefcases made of fabric may have a shoulder strap. Briefcases typically have a lock to protect the contents. Nowadays, briefcases may have padded internal pouches to protectlaptop computers.
Briefcases are descendants of the limpsatchel used in the fourteenth century for carrying money and valuables. It was called a "budget", derived from the Latin word "bulga" or Irish word "bolg", both meaning leather bag (in Irish it also means 'stomach'), and also the source of the financial term "budget".
Godillot of Paris[citation needed] was the first to use a hinged iron frame on acarpet bag in 1826. There then followed theGladstone bag and the Rosebery, an oval-top bag. Eventually these became the modern metal-framed briefcase. The first of what is known as the modern rectangular briefcase is said to have been invented in the late 1850s. In 2014, the global business bag market was $9.4 billion.[1]
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