Elizabeth M. Richards > Latham & Watkins LLP > San Francisco, United States > Lawyer Profile

Latham & Watkins LLP
505 MONTGOMERY STREET
SUITE 2000
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111-6538
CALIFORNIA
United States

Position

Elizabeth Richards advises clients navigating the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) oversight and regulation of the life sciences industry, including digital health, medical device, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, dietary supplement, food, cosmetic, and other life sciences industry clients.

Elizabeth counsels clients on regulatory, compliance, transactional, and legislative matters involving the FDA. Her practice spans all stages of the product life cycle, including with respect to:

    • Pre-market product development and launch strategy
    • Clinical trials and pre-clinical testing
    • Product submissions
    • Product marketing, promotion, and labeling
    • Good manufacturing practice
    • Agency inspections and recalls
    • Enforcement actions

In addition to her focus on regulatory counseling and advocacy, Elizabeth frequently drafts and negotiates contracts with vendors of life sciences clients, including clinical trial sites, contract research organizations, contract manufacturers and laboratories, and suppliers. She also regularly advises on regulatory matters in connection with capital markets, financing, and M&A transactions involving FDA-regulated entities.

She currently serves as a member of the FDLI’s Medical Products Committee and served as an inaugural member of the FDLI Digital Health Committee, and has previously served on its Publications and Academic Programs Committee. Elizabeth is also a member of Latham’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force and the firm’s Digital Health Steering Committee, bringing together subject matter experts tracking developments in the rapidly evolving digital health space, and she participates as a member of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association’s FDA Working Group. Elizabeth also previously served as an Advisory Board member of the Children’s Law Center.

Lawyer Rankings

United States > Healthcare > Life sciences

(Next Generation Partners)

Elizabeth RichardsLatham & Watkins LLP

Latham & Watkins LLP’s client base ranges from globally recognized life sciences businesses to biopharma and biotech start-ups. The busy practice is active across a range of life sciences industry sectors, from pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to cosmeceuticals and food tech. The team’s key areas of activity include complex corporate transactions such as M&A, with experts including Julie Scallen. Also on the transactional side, Shayne Kennedy focuses on capital markets along with Matthew Bush and Nathan Ajiashvili, while Cheston Larson advises on financing. Through its development of licensing structures and facilitation of commercial transactions, the team has been active in the funding of drug development and commercialization. The firm also handles litigation matters such as IP disputes, counting on experts such as Arlene Chow, as well as regulatory and legislative strategies; Ben Haas is a key figure in the latter. Among the practice’s key figures are also John Manthei and Elizabeth M. Richards, both experts in FDA regulatory matters, and Terra Reynolds, in white-collar defense and investigations. In 2024, litigation and regulatory specialists Jennifer L. Bragg and William McConagha joined the practice from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and in April 2025, Kate Hillier  joined from Cooley LLP.