The College of Business Administration hosted the founding partner of a Cleveland law firm as the featured speaker of the Global Management Center Speaker Series on Thursday night.

Patrick Haggerty, founder and lawyer at Frantz Ward, LLP, spoke to Kent State students about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, an act that makes it illegal for campus to bribe foreign officials in any manner, and explained all portions to the students in attendance.

​The FCPA was passed in 1977 but is just recently being enforced. ​Haggerty said that one of the main issues the act presents is its lack of enforcement, which has lead to very little case law and precedent, so lawyers are not able to provide much counsel.

Haggerty also said that international corporations must implement training for compliance laws, both in the U.S. and abroad.

​Companies must “create a culture of compliance,” Haggerty said. “Companies are very concerned with being compliant” in this day and age, he said.

​Haggerty interspersed clips from popular movies, like “The Wolf of Wall Street,” to keep students interested and to help solidify the information.

​“I liked that he used the clips because it kept my attention,” Maddy Fox, junior marketing major, said. “I’m a marketing major so we learn how important it is now, with social media and everything, so it is important to understand the basics of the laws.”

​Elizabeth Thomas, junior fashion merchandising major, said, “He knew that a lot of students would be here so he made it more interesting.”

​Michael Mayo, director of the university’s Global Management Center, said these discussions are increasingly important for college-aged students to immerse themselves in because “there are some contemporary issues evolving,” he said.

​Haggerty concluded his presentation by ensuring students understood that compliance isn’t a one time occurrence.

“It’s what you do every day,” he said.

Contact Ellie Enselein at [email protected].