Takeaways from the Crain’s Detroit Business General & In-House Counsel Summit

Sheryl Toby, Detroit and Bloomfield Hills-based member of Dykema’s Automotive Industry Group with emphasis in supply chain issues and member of Dykema’s Bankruptcy Practice Group, and Jin-Kyu Koh, Detroit-based member and co-Leader of Dykema’s Corporate Finance Practice Group, served as featured speakers at the Crain’s Detroit Business General & In-House Counsel Summit.

Toby moderated the session, “Automotive: Managing the ups and downs of the business cycle,” with co-panelists Tim Guerriero, recently retired General Counsel, TI Automotive Ltd., Mike Heneka, President, Faurecia North America, and Christine Krathwohl, Vice President - Global Supply Chain, Cooper Standard. The panel discussed issues that arise in swings in business and identified ideas on how to better anticipate and address the issues that arise. The panel addressed the relationship between customers and suppliers and how early collaboration and partnership between management and in-house or outside counsel on contracting processes, starting with or before the requests for quotes processes, can help to avert problems that often arise in business cycle changes. The panel also discussed, among numerous other topics, challenges that can arise in retention of institutional knowledge in a changing work force and ideas for better addressing this challenge.  

Koh served as a panelist for the mergers and acquisitions session—the topic of which was taking companies private—with Daniel Follis, Jr., former Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Compuware Corp. The panel was moderated by Brandi Walkowiak, Director of Professional Services, Advanced Discovery. Koh has been involved in several recent going private transactions. Koh and Follis highlighted the following as factors for companies to go private: ever increasing cost of compliance, the removal of public scrutiny, and the ability to focus on longer-term goals. However, Koh noted that the trend to take companies private has slowed recently as the price and value has increased—the stock markets are at or near record highs.

For more information or questions about these and other related topics, please contact Sheryl Toby at stoby@dykema.com or 248-203-0522, Jin Koh at jkoh@dykema.com or 313-568-6627, or your Dykema relationship attorney.