Linda Maria Wayner is a results-oriented mediator who knows how to defeat impasse in complex, high-stakes disputes. She specializes in diplomatic, commercial, and employment matters where negotiations have stalled, client expectations have hardened, or parties have stopped hearing candid settlement advice from their own attorneys.

With more than twenty years of experience in commercial law and employment disputes, Linda brings disciplined, strategic focus to each mediation. She understands how sophisticated disputes are evaluated, priced, and resolved. Her mediation style is direct and pragmatic. She works closely with counsel to reality-test positions by reframing risk to motivate parties toward resolution.

Linda began her career as an arbitration lawyer and securities litigator at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. She later served as General Counsel for International Affairs for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, where she oversaw seven years of negotiations between the City of New York and the United Nations regarding the landmark’s $1.8 billion Capital Master Plan. As an attorney, Linda worked on several U.S. Supreme Court cases, including Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations v. City of New York and Grutter v. Bollinger. She has taught international commercial arbitration for two decades, giving her a deep command of dispute systems, institutional dynamics, and the pressures facing represented parties. Linda has also taught Corporations and Partnerships, International Business Transactions, Municipal Law, and Introduction to Lawyering.

Linda is a former Deputy President of the Hispanic National Bar Association’s New York Region and a former board member of the national nonprofit Pipeline to Practice. She holds degrees from Baylor University and the University of Michigan Law School, where she served on the Michigan Law Review. She lives in New York City with her spouse and three sons. In her spare time, she coaches an award-winning junior high mock trial team.