When John Pico began representing car dealers in 1972, there were not many lawyers or brokers specializing in the field. Sid Pilot, of Pilot & Spar (P&S), was probably the most notable in California, insofar as dealership attorneys were concerned, and Gordon Page was, and probably still is, one of the most recognizable names in dealership brokering. Mr. Page began in 1958 and, when Mr. Pico came aboard in the dealership representation field, Page already had over a decade of experience behind him.
As time passed, more lawyers and brokers started getting into the business and protégés, such as Michael Flannagan (P&S 1980-1988) and Erin Tenner (P&S 1986-1992), from Pilot and Spar’s firm, started (and still maintain) their own practices, specializing in representing dealers.
Through the 1970s and early 1980s, while representing dealers as an attorney, Mr. Pico noticed there was no data base regarding dealer representation, nor any forms or checklists available with respect to buy-sells and may other dealer specific issues. Subsequently, after 10-years of researching cases, reading sales and service agreements, collecting and drafting buy-sells and checklists, representing dealers in court, in factory and lender negotiations and on out of trust issues, Mr. Pico and Glenn Hartzheim, Mr. Pico’s first dealer client, spent two-years organizing and refining the documents and information collected.
In 1989, Mr. Pico established Pico Publishing Company and he and Mr. Hartzheim completed a two-volume series* encompassing dealer representation issues and dealership mergers, acquisitions and sales. The books were published by National Legal Publishing, Inc. and the information and forms in them became the genesis of today’s buy-sell agreements.
As a by-product of the publication and its analysis of the various manufacturer and distributor Sales and Service Agreements, a number for factories, most notably Mazda, modified their dealer agreements.
From then until now, Mr. Pico continues to contribute to the advancement of dealer representation through articles, seminars and speaking engagements.
*United States Library of Congress Number: 89-082568; ISBN Numbers: 0-936381-03-5 and 0-936381-04-03.
