Robert L. Föehl, J.D.
- Executive-in-Residence for Business Law and Ethics
- Director, One-Year MBA Program
Areas of Expertise
- Business Ethics
- Business Law
- Consumer Financial Services
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Corporate and Regulatory Compliance
- Ethical Leadership
Expert Bio
Robert L. Föehl, Esq. is Executive-in-Residence for Business Law and Ethics in the College of Business at Ohio University. In that position, Föehl teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in business ethics and business law.
Föehl is the quintessential “pracademic” – before joining academia, he spent nearly 25 years practicing in industry as a legal, ethics, and compliance professional. Immediately prior to joining the faculty of the College of Business, Föehl was Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for ACA International – the association of credit and collections professionals. In that role, he led the association’s legal, compliance, government affairs, research, and human resources functions, advised on corporate governance matters and served on the executive leadership team.
Previously, Föehl was Target’s first Director of Corporate Compliance & Ethics, establishing the vision, strategy and team charged with ensuring an effective compliance program and advancing Target’s reputation for being one of the world’s most ethical companies. During his tenure at Target, Föehl also served as senior legal counsel in Target’s Law Department, where he worked on strategic, multi-billion dollar corporate transactions and counseled Target related to its consumer financial services offerings.
Before joining Target, Föehl practiced law in-house for multinational corporations, was a compliance professional for one of the nation’s largest financial institutions, and served as a federal financial institutions regulator.
Föehl has been a frequent presenter, lecturer and advisor on a number of topics, including organizational ethics and compliance, and consumer financial services law. Föehl has served as a panelist for events hosted by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission, presented at numerous financial services industry association conferences, and has been extensively quoted in media outlets such as U.S. News and World Report, Forbes, MarketWatch, National Public Radio, ABC News, Washington Post, The Hill, USA Today, Vox, ProPublica, ABA Journal, and American Banker.
Föehl is licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio and the State of Minnesota.
Follow him on Twitter @ProfFoehl.