William J. (“Bill”) Hazzard, an AV Preeminent rated attorney and Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator and Qualified Arbitrator, was born in Glen Rock, New Jersey on April 16, 1956. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Richmond in 1978 and began his business career with IBM in a variety of sales, management, personnel and public relations positions in Virginia and Florida.

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Bill left IBM and pursued his law degree from the University of Florida College of Law, graduating with high honors in 1993.  While at the University of Florida he served as associate articles editor of the Law Review and received both the Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Graduate Student Scholarship Award and the Alumni Council Scholarship Award. Following law school he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Susan H. Black, United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, during the 1993‐94 court term.

In 1994, after completing his judicial clerkship, Bill began his commercial litigation practice in Naples.  He became the managing shareholder of Coleman, Hazzard, Taylor & Diaz, P.A. in 2005.  In 2010, Bill began to develop a mediation practice and became a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil mediator, followed by becoming a Qualified Arbitrator in 2012.  Beginning in January 2018, Bill became of counsel to his firm, now known as Coleman, Hazzard, Taylor, Klaus, Doupe' and Diaz, to devote his full-time efforts to mediation and arbitration.  Currently, he is available to mediate cases in all Florida state courts and in the Federal Court for the Middle District of Florida and to serve as an arbitrator in both binding and non-binding settings.  Bill brings a wealth of legal and practical experience, knowledge and commitment to his role as a mediator or arbitrator.

A firm believer in giving back to the community, Bill has served on the board of directors of Grace Place for Children and Families. He is also a past president and former board member of the Collier County Bar Association, past president of the United Way of Collier County and past president of the Greater Delray Beach (Fla.) Chamber of Commerce. Bill is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and all Florida state courts.  

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Bill is the author of “Professional Responsibility: Duties Owed to an Unrepresented Party”, 44 Fl. L. Rev. 3, July 1992; “Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave When First We Practice to Deceive Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines: Enhancing Sentences for Defendant Perjury at Trial”, 44 Fl. L. Rev. 4, September, 1992; and “The Effect of Inadvertent Disclosure of Confidential Communication on the Attorney Client Privilege”, 17 Trial Advocate Quarterly 1, Spring, 1997.

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Contact Bill by phone at 239‐298‐5207 (direct) or email him at bill@mediatornaples.org for more information or to enlist his assistance as a mediator or arbitrator.