Exhibit 5.1

	12670 High Bluff Drive San Diego, California 92130 Tel: +1.858.523.5400 Fax: +1.858.523.5450 www.lw.com
January 25, 2022	FIRM / AFFILIATE OFFICES
	Austin	Moscow
	Beijing	Munich
	Boston	New York
	Brussels	Orange County
	Century City	Paris
	Chicago	Riyadh
	Dubai	San Diego
	Düsseldorf	San Francisco
	Frankfurt	Seoul
	Hamburg	Shanghai
	Hong Kong	Silicon Valley
	Houston	Singapore
	London	Tel Aviv
	Los Angeles	Tokyo
	Madrid	Washington, D.C.
	Milan

eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Inc.

142 North Cedros Avenue, Suite B

Solana Beach, California 92075

Re: eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Inc. - Registration Statement on Form S-1

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We have acted as special counsel to eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with its filing on the date hereof with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) of a registration statement on Form S-1 (the “Registration Statement”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), relating to the registration of the offer and sale by the Company of (i) 142,939 shares (the “Commitment Shares”) of common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (“Common Stock”) and (ii) up to $50,000,000 of shares (the “Purchase Shares” and together with the Commitment Shares and the Initial Purchase Shares, the “Shares”) of Common Stock, in each case, pursuant to the Purchase Agreement dated January 24, 2022 (the “Purchase Agreement”) between the Company and Lincoln Park Capital Fund, LLC.

This opinion is being furnished in connection with the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K under the Act, and no opinion is expressed herein as to any matter pertaining to the contents of the Registration Statement or related prospectus or prospectus supplement (collectively, the “Prospectus”), other than as expressly stated herein with respect to the issuance of the Shares.

As such counsel, we have examined such matters of fact and questions of law as we have considered appropriate for purposes of this letter. With your consent, we have relied upon certificates and other assurances of officers of the Company and others as to factual matters without having independently verified such factual matters. We are opining herein as to the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”), and we express no opinion with respect to any other laws.

January 25, 2022

Page 2

Subject to the foregoing and the other matters set forth herein, it is our opinion that, as of the date hereof, when the Shares shall have been duly registered on the books of the transfer agent and registrar therefor in the name or on behalf of the purchasers, and have been issued by the Company against payment therefor (not less than par value) in the circumstances contemplated by the Purchase Agreement, the issuance and sale of the Shares will have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action of the Company, and the Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable. In rendering the foregoing opinion, we have assumed that (i) the Company will comply with all applicable notice requirements regarding uncertificated shares provided in the DGCL and (ii) upon the issuance of any of the Shares, the total number of shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding will not exceed the total number of shares of Common Stock that the Company is then authorized to issue under its Certificate of Incorporation.

This opinion is for your benefit in connection with the Registration Statement and may be relied upon by you and by persons entitled to rely upon it pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Act. We consent to your filing this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and to the reference to our firm contained in the Prospectus under the heading “Legal Matters.” In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.

Very truly yours,

/s/ Latham & Watkins LLP

2