Local Attorney Has Globe-Trotting Summer

Submitted by Cheryl Squadrito

It’s been a busy summer of travel for Joseph E. Murphy, a Haddonfield-based attorney with a global reach. A popular speaker about compliance and ethics issues, Murphy visited India, Ethiopia and Malaysia to meet with government officials and industry leaders.

First stop was Mumbai, India in July, when Murphy was invited to speak and participate in the workshop “U.S. Department of Commerce and Confederation of Indian Industry, Business Integrity and Compliance Roundtable.” The presentation detailed the strategies for developing an affordable, practical, and effective company compliance program for Indian and global markets.

“It is important, in the fight against corruption, that we each be willing to play our part.  The companies and organizations at the conference showed that they understood this,” said Murphy, who is the director of Public Policy at the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics.  “In my experience, people in business either find a way or they find excuses. There are already too many excuses for corruption.  In this remarkable conference no excuses were on offer. Rather, the U.S. Commerce Dept. and the Confederation of Indian Industry convened a meeting of those looking to find a way to fight against corruption and not accept excuses.”

Next stop was Africa in August, where Murphy participated in the AGOA Ethiopia 2013 Forum held in Addis Ababa at the headquarters of the African Union, in an event called The Benefits of US African Public-Private Partnerships. Murphy’s presentation was entitled “Compliance Programs for Small and Medium-Sized Companies.”

At his final summer destination in August, Murphy presented on compliance and ethics programs for small businesses at a program sponsored by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia called “Train the Trainer Workshop for Codes of Ethics.”

In these three events, Murphy discussed his white paper, A Compliance and Ethics Program on a Dollar a Day, published by the SCCE.

“In the “Compliance and Ethics Program on a Dollar a Day” paper, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics is showing that companies can take effective steps to prevent and detect wrongdoing.  A company does not have to be big to do this; what it does need, though, is commitment by management.  If the commitment is there, organizations like SCCE are ready to help and provide ideas and assistance.”

In the spring, Murphy lectured for the SCCE in London and Brussels to begin his globe-trotting year.