You’d have a difficult time finding anyone in the Las Vegas legal community unfamiliar with the late Chris Beecroft Jr.

The 1971 UNLV graduate and guest lecturer had a private practice for 26 years before serving as commissioner of alternative dispute resolution for Clark County District Court, as well as Family Court discovery commissioner. When Beecroft passed away in December 2016, the ADR section of the Nevada State Bar worked quickly to establish the Chris Beecroft Jr. fund, its main purpose being the sponsorship of an eponymous lecture series for the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution.

This year, the Beecroft Lecture Series welcomes Andrea Schneider, a TED speaker and Marquette University Law School professor who will deliver a presentation on March 1, 2018, titled “Gender and Negotiation: What About the Guys?” The lecture at the Thomas & Mack Moot Courtroom is free and open to the public.

“It’s not going to be a talk that is only of interest to lawyers,” says professor Jean Sternlight, director of the Saltman Center. “It’s going to be of interest to anybody interested in negotiation or gender, which really should be everyone on the planet.”

Much research on the topic essentially suggests women should negotiate more assertively — or "more like men." However, recent work shows that men who engage in aggressive or bullying behavior in negotiation are often ineffective. In addition, while research often celebrates women's perceived advantage in terms of empathy or trustworthiness, the same research has not yet been used to provide specific advice to men on how to do better in negotiation.  This talk will both discuss the general differences between behaviors labeled as masculine and feminine in negotiation and also outline lessons for effectiveness for all genders.

Sternlight, who worked with Beecroft, adds that the Nevada Law Journal will publish an article of Schneider’s remarks so that her message can reach a wider audience. Spreading the word about alternative dispute resolution is something Beecroft would have appreciated.

“Chris was a quiet, humble man,” says Patrick Chapin, a longtime colleague of Beecroft and former ADR section chairman who worked with the Saltman Center to organize the fund. “He never would have imagined this. His widow and two children are overwhelmed that his name will live on.”