Jill Pilgrim is a respected business, sports and dispute resolution attorney. She is the founder and managing attorney of Pilgrim & Associates Law Offices, established in 1981. Ms. Pilgrim temporarily closed her firm from 1998-2009, while she served as general counsel for two Olympic and professional sports organizations. Consistent with her three decades of legal experience, Ms. Pilgrim’s New York City-based practice serves clients in the for-profit and nonprofit business world, individuals and organizations involved in the sports and entertainment industries, and represents parties in mediation and arbitration.
In-House Legal Work
While serving as general counsel of the Ladies Professional Golf Association [LPGA], Ms. Pilgrim handled matters ranging from corporate governance, Olympic eligibility, merchandising and licensing, contract drafting and negotiations, intellectual property rights protection, member eligibility, dispute resolution, and spearheaded the LPGA’s design and launch of professional golf’s first player drug-testing program in 2008.
As general counsel and director of business affairs for USA Track & Field [USATF], the national governing body for Olympic track and field athletics, from 1998-2007, Ms. Pilgrim handled a wide range of legal and business issues. She advised the organization’s senior management legal and corporate governance issues and served as staff liaison to a variety of United States Olympic Committee and national governing body committees.
Law Firm History
Ms. Pilgrim began her legal career as a tax and corporate associate in New York City at Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Cowan Liebowitz & Latman. She also served as Of Counsel and a part-time associate for Kurzman, Karelson & Frank, while building her entertainment and sports practice.
Dispute Resolution
Ms. Pilgrim’s dispute resolution experience and skills are demonstrated by her representation of organizational and individual clients in mediation and arbitration.
Ms. Pilgrim is an independent hearing officer for the New York State Gaming Commission, and an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. She has been a neutral for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority [FINRA] since 2010, and previously served as an arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc.
Ms. Pilgrim served on the National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA] Division I Committee on Infractions from 2014-2018. She was appointed arbitrator on the USATF Doping Hearing Board and Doping Appeals Board for athlete drug cases from 1991-1998, and was previously appointed to the United States Olympic Committee Out-of-Competition Drug Hearing Board.
Teaching
Professor Pilgrim is honored to be teaching Sports Arbitration at her alma mater, Columbia University School of Law. She has taught sports industry and law courses at Columbia University School of Professional Studies & Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía Companion Masters in Sports Management & Masters in Sports Law Program; University of Miami School of Law; and New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management.
Leadership & Professional Membership
Ms. Pilgrim has a long history of serving and holding leadership roles with numerous professional organizations, boards and committees, including: Chair, Dispute Resolution Section of the New York State Bar Association (2024-25); Board member, Athletics (T&F) Integrity Unit (2020-present); Member of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (2019-present); Advisory Board member of the National Sports Law Institute of Marquette University Law School; Co-Chair of the Sports Committee of the New York State Bar Association’s Entertainment, Arts, & Sports & Law Section; Co-Chair of the Dispute Resolution Section of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association; Co-Chair of the Entertainment & Sports Section of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association; Board member of the Sports Lawyers Association (2002 and 2003 Conference Chair; 2003-2005 Membership and Public Relations Committee Chair); Indianapolis Bar Association Entertainment & Sports Section Executive Committee; and founder and president, The Center for the Protection of Athletes’ Rights, Inc.
Awards
Ms. Pilgrim is the Marquette University School of Law’s National Sports Law Institute 2018 Joseph E. O’Neill Award Recipient; Columbia University Black Law Students Association 2018 Paul Robeson Distinguished Alumni Honoree; Princeton University Larry Ellis Track & Field Distinguished Alumni Award recipient; Princeton University Women’s 1980 Track & Field Award recipient.
Credentials, Education & Athletics
Ms. Pilgrim was a nationally ranked sprinter on the Track and Field team at Princeton University.
Ms. Pilgrim graduated from Princeton with a B.A. in Politics and a Certificate in African Studies. She earned a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, and is admitted to practice law in the states of New York and Indiana, and before District Court, Eastern District of New York.
Ms. Pilgrim perfected her French at the Alliance Française and the Sorbonne, in Paris, France. She speaks French and has studied Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.
Jill Pilgrim’s Public Speaking Appearances (Selected):
Negotiating Contracts in the Era of COVID-19
The Impact of COVID-19 on Sports: A Legal Perspective