• Michigan State University, B.A. 1970
• University of Florida College of Law, J.D. With Honors 1975
• University of Florida College of Law, Member of the Law Review

• The Association for Conflict Resolution
• Fellow, The American College of Civil Trial Mediators
• State Bar of Michigan
• The Florida Bar
• American Bar Association
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court

Doug Beattie is a 33 + year lawyer with superior academic credentials and professional accomplishments, and a variety of life experiences. He is a founding shareholder in Mediate First, Inc.

Mr. Beattie attended law school at the University of Florida, where he graduated with Honors and was a member of the Law Review. After graduation, he was admitted to practice in the State of Michigan as well as in the State of Florida. Mr. Beattie was a trial lawyer in Grand Rapids, Michigan and in Orlando, Florida for 15 years. The judges he practiced before and his peers voted him an AV Martindale-Hubbell rating.

As one of the very first mediators working in the State of Florida, Mr. Beattie began his career in alternate dispute resolution in 1988. Since that time, he has mediated both State and Federal Court cases throughout Florida and the Southeast United States. Mr. Beattie has conducted over 10,000 mediation conferences in his career. He has mediated virtually every type of dispute, including but not limited to personal injury, wrongful death, professional malpractice, civil rights, products liability, employment, discrimination, eminent domain, admiralty, first and third party insurance, commercial, and construction matters. Mr. Beattie specializes in multi-party, complex cases. He co-authored an article published in a national alternate dispute resolution journal and has lectured to professional organizations on the subject of effective mediation techniques.

Throughout his life, Mr. Beattie has been an accomplished, competitive athlete. He played basketball for Michigan State University. After receiving his undergraduate degree, he was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Air Force and served his country, on active duty, for three years. He received numerous decorations and commendations during his term of active duty. He attended law school after being honorably discharged from military service. Since 2001, in addition to his full time mediation practice, Mr. Beattie has been a successful high school varsity basketball coach and on 3 occasions, has been voted Central Florida ‘Coach of the Year’ by his fellow coaches.