William C. Hearon has been a member of The Florida Bar since 1978.   In addition to his civil litigation practice, he is certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a Circuit Court Mediator and is on the List of Certified Mediators for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.  He was first certified in Florida as a mediator in 1991 and has been on the Southern District’s certified list of mediators since 1993. 

He has mediated cases across a broad spectrum of business disputes, and is often called upon to mediate complex cases with strong, determined clients. He has mediated cases involving the United States of America, other sovereign countries, local governments, and foreign banks.

Mr. Hearon is an advocate for the mediation process and the important place it occupies within the litigation/trial process.  With his guidance, the mediation conference offers the parties an opportunity to meet, either prior to or during litigation, and in some cases during the appellate process, to examine their dispute from a variety of viewpoints, to define the issues that divide them and to explore options for the satisfactory resolution of their dispute. During the mediation process, he strives to define the issues and to focus the parties’ attention on the practical, business aspects of reaching a resolution of the dispute by emphasizing clear communication, straight-forward negotiation, detailed problem-solving and continuous, flexible but directed facilitation.

He served as the Chairman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida’s Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on Court-Annexed Mediation from August 2007 to January 2013.  He has also conducted mediations for The Florida Bar’s Grievance Mediation Program and for the Florida Department of Business Regulation, Division of Florida Land Sales, Condominiums and Mobile Homes.

It is Mr. Hearon’s practice to never schedule more than one mediation on any given day in order to free the parties from any artificial time constraints which often impede resolution of the dispute and to afford the parties the most flexible time frame within which to reach a settlement.

Sunrise over Fisher Island, Florida; Fall 2005