Elisabetta Righini

Elisabetta Righini is a partner in the Antitrust & Competition Practice in Latham & Watkins' Brussels office. Her practice centers on international and European law, with a particular focus on State aid and EU regulation.

Ms. Righini routinely advises companies, industry associations, and public authorities on State aid compliance and assists them with European Commission investigations and litigation before the European courts. Her State aid clients are active in a variety of sectors, including cinema, energy, transport, infrastructure, postal, technology, automotive, and chemicals.

Ms. Righini also has strong expertise in EU regulatory aspects, in particular in the telecoms, energy, and transport sectors. She regularly advises clients on regulatory developments in their industry and helps them develop and execute effective strategies.

Prior to joining Latham, Ms. Righini worked at the European Commission for 15 years, initially as a member of its Legal Service, and most recently for five years as a senior member of the Cabinet of former Competition Commissioner and Vice-President Joaquín Almunia.

As legal and policy advisor to the Vice-President on EU State aid control, Ms. Righini was the interface between the Vice-President, DG Competition, and other stakeholders including Member States authorities at the Ministerial level, CEOs, and industry representatives. She was actively involved in the State Aid Modernisation package, from conception to adoption. She also advised on other areas such as international trade and WTO, energy, environment, and climate change.

Ms. Righini also has extensive experience as a litigator, having served for 10 years as a member of the Legal Service at the European Commission where she appeared before the European Court of Justice in over 100 cases relating to state aid, external relations, anti-dumping, services, and fiscal matters. She has also appeared before the World Trade Organization in over 20 cases relating to sanitary and phytosanitary measures, genetically modified organisms, subsidies, tariffs and non-tariffs, barriers, and telecoms.

She is a visiting professor at the Centre of European Law of Kings College’s Dickson Poon School of Law in London, where she teaches State aid law and EU energy law, and a member of its Advisory Board.

Ms. Righini is the local Chair of Latham’s Women Enriching Business (WEB) committee and a member of the European Network of Women in Leadership.