THE SHIP OF THESEUS
On the identity of a law firm
In terms of age, there are law firms that have only been around for a few days and those that have been around for centuries. Many law firms have made their age part of their marketing. With wine and whiskey, age is also part of the marketing. The same is true for some crafts. Consider brewing beer. The idea is that if you do something for a very long time, and pass on the experience to later generations, then you are very good at your craft, and so you bring a very good product to market.
Yet this also raises a more philosophical question: what is the identity of a law firm, particularly over time? We all know the discussion about the ship of Theseus. At its core, it goes like this. A ship is built and used for decades to transport people and goods. Every few years the ship is subjected to maintenance. What is broken is repaired. Rotten planks are replaced with new ones. After many decades, literally all parts of the original ship have been replaced with new parts. Is it still the same ship? In other words, when does a ship loses its identity (or assumes a new identity)? A question that could possibly be asked with respect to a law firm as well.
But perhaps we should compare a law firm not to a ship, but to a craft, like brewing beer. The question then becomes whether knowledge and experience from say 100 years ago, were indeed transferred to succeeding lawyers in that law firm, so that the age of the firm actually adds value. This is an open question.
Karel Frielink
(Attorney/Legal Researcher)
(5 December 2022)
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