A graduate of the American University Washington College of Law, Lindner was admitted to the Virginia State Bar in 2001.
Lindner switched careers and launched his own law firm in Fairfax in 2001, focusing primarily on criminal and traffic litigation.
[5] As a criminal defense attorney, he handled difficult cases such as homicide trials[7] and representation of persons wrongly held in custody.
[9] He helped reinvigorate, and from 2012 to 2015, was Co-Chair of the Fairfax Bar Criminal Law Practice Section,[9] serving for the first year in collaboration with David Bernhard.
[15] Lindner's accomplishments both in private practice and as a judge, and perseverance in nurturing the Veterans Treatment Docket, resulted in him being named a "Leader in the Law" by Virginia Lawyers Weekly in 2016.