Sarretta McDonough, Chief Regulatory Counsel at technology company Intel Corporation, speaks to In-House Perspective about her 30-year career practising competition and regulatory law, the challenges she has faced and how she has navigated them.

After beginning as a summer associate at Kirkland & Ellis, Sarretta McDonough has had an impressive career in senior private practice and in-house roles specialising in global litigation, regulatory and competition matters. She is now Chief Regulatory Counsel at technology company Intel Corporation, based in the heart of Silicon Valley, where she oversees a global team of 80 people who manage M&A, antitrust and regulatory issues.

McDonough was born on the southern coast of California and initially wanted to be an artist, inspired by the German Renaissance painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer. After her mother pointed out to her the somewhat instable financial prospects of that profession, McDonough decided to become a lawyer. After completing a BA at the University of California at Berkeley and gaining her JD at the University of Michigan Law School, she was accepted onto the summer associate programme at Kirkland & Ellis – a law firm she was attracted to because of its highly respected reputation in litigation. She returned to Kirkland after the summer and rose up the ranks to become a partner at the firm before joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where she was head of investigations and strategy for antitrust and corruption-related matters. In 2018, she made the move in-house and joined Intel Corporation as Associate General Counsel for antitrust and commercial litigation.

McDonough says the biggest challenge in her career so far – and also one of the most enjoyable elements – has been the constant learning that’s required of a lawyer in having to adapt to changes in the law or the individual circumstances of clients. ‘The “practice” of law is probably really well said,’ she says. ‘Every case, every problem you are trying to solve for your client is new.’

Being a counsellor at law

The opportunity to engage with an issue before a problem exists or managing a difficulty to avoid it escalating is an aspect of working in-house that McDonough says excited her about working for Intel Corporation. ‘I wanted to come in [and] be a true counsellor in the traditional sense of a counsellor of the law,’ she says. ‘You’re always typically fighting someone when you are a litigator but it’s nice to come in-house because you get to balance both sides of the practice in that sense, which is very fulfilling.’

At Intel Corporation – a company that designs, manufactures and sells computer components in more than 50 countries worldwide – McDonough advises on global antitrust, international trade and operations. This includes pricing to customers, M&A regulatory inquiries and shipments to customers, whether customs and duties on imports or exports controls. ‘Since we operate in and have customers in so many countries it can be really challenging to make sure that we’re compliant with the local and global laws that apply, but that is also what makes the job fun because you’re problem-solving at a very complex and high level,’ she says.

McDonough explains that the most urgent areas of regulatory risk in the tech sector are related to geopolitical developments and differences in approaches in respect of regulatory regimes in the US, China, UK and the EU. ‘There are concerns that companies have when they are trying to satisfy one jurisdiction in one country but not wanting to harm their relationship with another country,’ she says. ‘It can be really challenging to navigate when you are a global company and all you really want is to operate in the world everywhere and sell your products to the people who want them.’

The best way to address that situation, McDonough says, is to be proactive with regulators. ‘One of the things that global companies do well and understand the value of is engaging with regulators to educate them on the company’s business and products,’ she says. ‘This effort is critical to help regulators to understand the company’s perspective and helps you navigate the potential regulatory conflicts between jurisdictions a bit better.’

In McDonough’s opinion, the most important skills an in-house lawyer can have include the ability to effectively engage with others. ‘There’s a lot more soft skills when you’re in-house that you really have to develop because you have to communicate with diverse folks from different roles, groups and levels in the company, either to get information that you need in order to provide sound legal advice or to persuade business leaders that a certain action is in the best long-term interests of the company,’ she explains.

‘Incredible sense of responsibility’

Looking back on her career, McDonough says that she’s most proud of mentoring over a dozen lawyers and watching them find positions that are well suited for them. ‘A lot of what I have valued over my career is that feeling of community and giving back […] so that the next generation also has the opportunities to have a fulfilling career in the law,’ she says.

Following the birth of her first child, shortly after she made partner at Kirkland & Ellis, McDonough says she felt ‘an incredible sense of responsibility’ to contribute to long-standing efforts to break down barriers for women in the workplace, which led her to join the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), an organisation founded in 1899 to promote women lawyers and women’s legal rights. Within a year of joining the NAWL, McDonough became Chair of the Mentorship Program Committee and later became its President.

McDonough says that for junior lawyers it’s important not to be discouraged by setbacks, particularly when acting as a litigator where a huge amount of effort goes into each case and it can feel very difficult to lose. ‘Over time you will see that things happen for a reason to allow you to be an even better advocate and even better lawyer, counsellor or colleague,’ she says. ‘That’s what makes for a varied, interesting and challenging career.’

In her spare time, McDonough enjoys hiking, reading books, travelling and nurturing her artistic side by sketching and drawing. ‘I like the process of sketching things out and resketching and erasing and redoing lines,’ she says. ‘There’s a cathartic process that happens. Like anything else, you never get to a perfect piece of art in your mind. But the art is the process, and I find it very relaxing to do.’

Outside of her work at Intel Corporation, McDonough is also an officer of the IBA’s Antitrust Section and a board member of NephCure Kidney International. She’s also a member of the California Bar and a solicitor admitted in England and Wales.