What Do GM and Big Law Firms Have in Common?
A longtime reader of my email newsletters recently reminded me of an item I wrote nearly three years ago, concerning how the Japanese auto makers started from scratch in this country but built up a dominant position by learning what their customers wanted and then providing it. “The American car makers,” I wrote, “no longer listened to their public, no longer made cars with quality, and no longer cared about their legacy and long term reputation. The Japanese did.” My bottom line comment, which has turned out to be even more prescient than I expected: “General Motors, once the largest corporation in the world, lost sight of the fact that its real purpose was serving customers, not making cars. Before too long we may read about GM’s bankruptcy.” At the time I wrote these words, Heller Ehrman, Thelen Reid, and Thacher Profitt were all strong, viable law firms that had been in practice for many decades. All three have failed within the past six months, and odds are that more will follow.
