This paper is a brief reflection on my relationship with Professor Riccardo Del Punta. Initially, he was my mentor (I am among the few, or perhaps the only, economist to have had Riccardo as supervisor for my PhD research project in Law and Economics). He guided my in the study of works by scholars like Otto Kahn-Freund, John R. Commons and Guido Calabresi. As colleagues, once I obtained a university professorship, we contributed to the birth and growth of the Italian Society of Law and Economics (SIDE, www.side-isle.it). As friends, after many years of interaction, I appreciated (and envied) his intellectual elegance and wit. As his mentee (again!), my paper emphasizes that his works on the capability approach in labor law is Riccardo Del Punta’s main international academic legacy.