Loretta M. Gastwirth – Leading Arbitrator & Mediator
Loretta M. Gastwirth, Esq. – Leading Arbitrator & Mediator
Loretta M. Gastwirth is a highly respected, well-recognized Arbitrator and Mediator serving parties and their counsel throughout New York, the Northeast, Florida, and across the United States. Known for her deep expertise in complex commercial, construction and employment disputes, Loretta brings more than four decades of experience as a litigator, trial lawyer, and leader in alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Her reputation as a renowned arbitrator and mediator is built on her extensive work in both domestic and international arbitrations and mediations.
A former Partner at Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone, LLP and Chair of its ADR Practice Group, Loretta has been recognized in the 2026 edition of Best Lawyers in America for Arbitration and honored multiple times by Long Island Business News and the Long Island Press for her leadership and professional excellence. She has served as an arbitrator or mediator in over 300 cases, including large and complex commercial, construction, employment and consumer disputes, emergency arbitrations, and multi‑member panel proceedings.
Loretta serves as an arbitrator and mediator on the Commercial, Construction, Employment, and Consumer panels (including large and complex matters) of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and its International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), and is a Mediator for the New York State Supreme Court’s Commercial Divisions in New York, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties. Her election as a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and position as Chair-Elect of the New York State Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section further reflects her standing among the nation’s most accomplished ADR professionals.
Areas of Expertise
Commercial & Business Disputes
Construction & Real Property
Employment Law
Representative Industries
Mediation Style & Process
Most cases settle and the question is whether a case will settle before enormous cost and time-consuming efforts are expended during litigation, arbitration or at trial. “Businesspeople make business decisions” and a mediator best serves the parties in helping them reach that most efficient, cost effective and successful resolution that businesspeople seek. A good mediator is familiar with litigation costs…
Arbitration Style & Process
As a litigator for 40 plus years and an Arbitrator for 20 of them, I am mindful that at the heart of any arbitration is a client with difficult problems seeking a final resolution and a full and fair opportunity to efficiently present its case.
Given my years as a litigator, trying cases, billing clients and retaining experts, I understand how costly litigation and arbitration can be. To reduce costs and create efficiencies…
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Arbitrator and Mediator
2026 Best Lawyers in America in Arbitration
