Chairman, DC Jazz Festival - Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Peter Gillon serves as Chairman of Board of the DC Jazz Festival, appointed 2022. He is a senior partner at the global law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, where he represents corporate policyholders in their disputes and transactions with insurance companies, using his 35 years of experience to help his clients access their insurance to resolve complex D&O litigation, large property and casualty losses, and other significant threats. Mr. Gillon co-leads Pillsbury's industry-leading Insurance Recovery and Advisory practice, comprising over 70 policyholder advocates in eight offices. He and the practice group have achieved top national rankings by Chambers, and repeated recognition in legal publications as Practice Group of the Year. Mr. Gillon has been recognized by his peers as one of the “Ten Most Admired Attorneys” in the area of insurance.
Mr. Gillon is deeply interested in the power of jazz as a symbol of America's core value of freedom of expression. He founded the International Jazz Coalition in 1987 to bring attention to jazz artists behind the Iron Curtain and their persecution by the government. He supports DC’s tremendous jazz scene as both artist and patron; he has played percussion professionally for 45 years, and can be seen from time to time in performance with local jazz players. Mr. Gillon and his wife Lisa Hook are also active with SF Jazz and the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice, serving on those boards as well. Peter is a founding board member of the Jewish Democratic Council of America (www.Jewishdems.org), and the co-founder of the Association of Climate Change Officers (www.climateofficers.org).