MEET THE MEDIATORS

HEATHER MCARTHUR
Heather is certified by the Florida Supreme Court in Family, Circuit Civil, County Court, and Dependency Mediation. Heather was first certified in ADR by Boise State University with an emphasis in Small Claims and Civil in 2004, through the university's two year certificate program.  She is also trained in Restorative Justice, Community Based Mediation and in other relationship-based mediations.  Heather has also completed training in Non-binding Arbitration for Florida. Additionally, she has been a trained Collaborative Professional since 2017 and is a Neutral Facilitator.  Heather is the co-founder and President of Collaborative Professionals of Central Florida (CPACFL). She also serves on the board of Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals (FACP) since 2021 and is a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP).
 
Heather owns McArthur Mediation Services and mediates a variety of cases throughout Florida.    Previously she worked as a staff mediator for the 10th Judicial Circuit Family and Dependency Court Mediation program. Heather has also worked as a private and court mediator in Idaho. Heather has done more than a thousand mediations and continues to mediate hundreds more each year.
 
Heather is passionate about empowering and helping others better themselves and their lives.  She considers herself a Die-Hard Mediator and strongly believes in the Collaborative Process.
 
Heather is married and a mother of five children. She is a historian with emphasis in War/Military, North America, Latin America, and British History. Additionally she is a Genealogist, gourmet cook, and gardener. Heather speaks conversational Spanish and is a daughter of a Salvadoran immigrant. Heather has a long history in doing non-profit and volunteer work. At the age of 19 and while she was in college, she started a non-profit organization to help the children of El Salvador and multiple Latin American countries by providing medical and other assistance to their children's hospital and local orphanages. Heather also helped victims of Hurricane Mitch in 1998 through her organization. Heather continues to do volunteer work in the community to include work with Rotary. She also sponsors underserved female sports programs, Kids Pack, and even volunteers with Helping Hands for hurricane cleanups among other initiatives she is doing throughout Florida.

ADAM D. PATTON, ESQ.

 Adam is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family, Circuit Civil, and County Court Mediator.   Adam is also a practicing Collaborative Law attorney. He is the co-founder of the first Collaborative Practice Group in the Tenth Judicial Circuit called: Collaborative Professionals Association of Central Florida (CPACFL).   He also has been a member of the Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals (FACP) since 2017.   Adam has been a member of the Florida Bar for over ten years and brings experience working as an attorney in Family Law, Circuit and County Court Cases, as well as in Criminal Courts.  His experience litigating has given him a different perspective on the importance of utilizing alternative dispute resolution methods such as mediation, arbitration, and Collaborative Practice. Adam knows firsthand the risks parties have when they choose to leave their fate in the hands of a judge.  He also knows what the real financial costs are to ligate a case all the way through trial.   
When Adam is not mediating, he likes to give of his time to a variety of community efforts and organizations and has long been a champion of sponsoring underprivileged youth sports programs. He is a member of the Federalist Society and an active Rotarian. Adam also coaches Little League Baseball. Adam has been a long-time hurricane cleanup volunteer and leads teams of volunteers throughout the Southeastern United States during hurricane season.  W

ABOUT MEDIATION

 Mediation is a process where a neutral, unbiased, third party helps disputing parties. With the help of a highly skilled and trained mediator, mediation can be a very useful process to settle disputes. The idea is to allow parties to create their own solutions to their dilemmas and foster an environment that parties can more easily work together in attempt to resolve their issues on their own.

Key Pillars of Mediation: 
Self-determination: Parties have the power to choose for themselves their own outcomes.
Collaboration: Parties work together in order to achieve a shared result.
Impartiality:  The process and the mediator does not favor one side more than the other. 
Respect: All of the parties are treated with dignity 
Confidentiality: All the information shared amongst the parties during the mediation process remains private and secret, with the exception of what is required to be reported by law such as: information regarding  abuse and neglect of a child, the elderly or a person with disabilities.