16 April 2021 – Like everybody in the ediscovery ecosystem, I was saddened to learn of the death this week of Robert Childress. I knew him not only as the founder of the Masters Conference (where he gave my media team access to pretty much everybody in the eD ecosystem and where we shot some of our best video interviews) but also at Legaltech where he performed the same role for me and the team (“Hey, come here. I want you to meet ..” )
Others knew him far better, had much more interaction with the man. Doug Austin’s appreciation of him is here. Cat Casey’s post on LinkedIn has attracted many appreciative comments, and Chris Dale opined here.
In his post, Chris Dale noted that Robert had an ability to spot coming trends and get them on his agendas. Chris nails it. In 2018 at a Masters Conference event Robert had talked about what he saw as a change in eDiscovery finance: big outside-the-industry investment money was coming into vendors. The “Mom & Pop” days of self-financing were ending.
At the January 2019 session of Legaltech (the last on-site version of that event) we caught up with him at “Drinks with Doug and Mary”, the Mary Mack/Doug Austin event that has become the most sought after ticket at Legalweek. It is a brilliant networking event … every “Power Hitter” in e-discovery attends … and it features discussions on all things information and technology over a few drinks and some great food, with Mary and Doug plus Marc Zamsky of ComplianceDS, the other event sponsor. We asked Robert about the $$$$. Here is our chat:
FROM LEGALWEEK 2019: A chat with Robert Childress
Robert gave a lot to the legal technology field. Thanks for the tribute. His passing is also a loss to the Central Florida community. He will be missed. My thoughts and prayers for his beautiful children. Saw their pictures every time we met, but never had a chance to meet them personally. Life is short friends. Enjoy every second you can and hug your kids. 😞