Federal prosecutors used Panasonic Corp.’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case to lay out several key lessons for general counsel, including what the government expects if a company wants to dodge hiring a corporate monitor.

Panasonic admitted its responsibility Monday in a deferred prosecution agreement for hiring third-party consultants in China and other parts of Asia who cut suspicious deals with foreign officials. The company agreed to pay $280 million in civil and criminal penalties, and to hire a monitor to oversee its compliance efforts for two years.