Yet when GM did go bankrupt in 2009, GM Legal did a great job of doing it, at least from GM's perspective. They had a prepackaged bankruptcy ready to go. They made it happen in NYC, not Detroit, by using some GM dealership in Manhattan as the base. They had a contract they forced on suppliers to keep parts flowing. (GM's terms were very tough; they didn't want to pay pre-bankruptcy debts or pay for custom tooling made but not paid for, but demanded suppliers keep shipping to them post-bankruptcy on extended payment terms.) That got them through the first few weeks without shutting down the business. Then there was a major downsizing; all the bad stuff went to Motors Liquidation Corp., and the new GM Company kept the good stuff.

Hanjin just stopped in place for weeks. No plan.