Briefcase, the first book of poems by District Court Judge John Adams, is a collection presented as a briefcase of lost documents and poems, allowing the author to play with a wide range of stylistic ideas around a central narrative theme, producing a melange of poems - in traditional and experimental forms - and other texts: affidavits, police reports, a Sudoku puzzle, court transcripts, a menu, wills, commentaries. A disordered novella in legal documents, brutal and amusing by turns, Briefcase unfolds a fascinating story and also superbly explores the role of language as a vessel for truth and an implement of justice.

District Court and Family Court judge at Auckland by day, John Adams also has a Masters in Creative Writing from The University of Auckland and is a poet by night. A long-time author of legal texts - such as the Butterworths Family Law series - Briefcase is his first collection of poems. Its first draft was written during his Masters year in 2009.