ACEDS Test Questions and Answers (2026) |
Comprehensive Review with Detailed
Rationales | A+ Verified
• You are in charge of litigation support at your law firm. Company A, a large
corporate client of the firm, and John Smith, a member of the client's management
team, have been named in a lawsuit alleging theft of intellectual property
(including computer code) and violation of a non-compete agreement. The lawsuit
stems from Smith's departure from Company B, a direct competitor of Company
A. You have been tasked with coordinating the collection of ESI from the client,
Company A.
Given the importance of the client to the firm, the highly technical issues involved,
and the fact that computer code may need to be preserved, who would be best
suited to perform the collection of ESI?
A) The IT manager at the client who is certified in Microsoft infrastructure
B) A forensic expert familiar with ESI collection in litigation
C) An expert consultant who is familiar with computer code relevant to the case
D) You, as the person in -✓✓B
• A data forensic examiner is asked to perform an acquisition of a computer hard
drive. In addition to the collection, he is asked to perform the most thorough
quality control (QC) of the data.
What method of QC is likely to be most thorough?
A) Verify file numbers and sizes.
B) Verify MD5 or SHA1 hash values.
C) Copy data to a working hard drive and verify that all files function as intended.
D) Verify file names, date created fields, and time created fields. -✓✓B
• During a large-scale review involving many contract attorneys performing
document review, the review center manager overseeing the document review is
concerned about the potential for data leakage. The facts and circumstances of the
case are sensitive, and any leaks of documents or information could impact a key
revenue stream and embarrass the client's leadership.
Which step below is the most effective way the review center manager may reduce
the risk of data leakage?
A) Prohibit all cell phones in the review center.
B) Disable USB ports on the reviewer workstation computers.
, C) Limit certain reviewers' access to only certain documents.
D) Have all reviewers sign an NDA and monitor their review activities -✓✓D
• A partner at a law firm in the U.S. called his U.S.-based client's legal department
in Germany to start the legal hold process for an important new case in which ESI
will need to be transferred across international borders. The partner did not speak
German and the in-house attorney in Germany spoke and understood English, but
only haltingly. The in-house attorney refused to send a communication to potential
custodians in Germany directing them to preserve ESI in connection with the case.
What is likely to be the most productive next step the U.S.-based partner should
take?
A) Engage the client's data protection officer.
B) Fly to Germany to speak to the client in person.
C) Immediately hire the best forensic team to collect the data after business hours.
D) Document that the client is uncooperative and file it away internally. -✓✓A
• An e-discovery service provider has had several power outages and disruptions to
business operations and the law firm that hired them is frustrated. To vent their
frustration, the law firm has decided to withhold payment from the service
provider. The law firm also made the decision to switch to another service
provider. The original service provider is now threatening to withhold access to the
law firm's data. Technically, the withheld data belongs to the client of the law firm.
What service provider contract elements should be assessed before terminating the
service provider contract?
A) Service level agreements, data return and data ownership terms.
B) Data ownership and attorney work product ownership.
C) Confidentiality and payment terms and conditions.
D) Warranties by the service provider. -✓✓A
• During a document review, an issue arises where the review manager is
experiencing a high overturn rate during the quality control check of reviewer
coding decisions. More than half of the documents coded responsive by the
reviewers are being changed to non-responsive during quality control.
What is the best action below that the review manager might take to remedy the
poor performance by the review team?
A) Retrain the reviewers on responsiveness, issue, and privilege coding.
B) Provide keyboard shortcuts for the review platform to improve efficiency.
C) Set up a Slack channel to facilitate answering reviewer questions.
D) Reduce the number of documents being quality checked. -✓✓A
Comprehensive Review with Detailed
Rationales | A+ Verified
• You are in charge of litigation support at your law firm. Company A, a large
corporate client of the firm, and John Smith, a member of the client's management
team, have been named in a lawsuit alleging theft of intellectual property
(including computer code) and violation of a non-compete agreement. The lawsuit
stems from Smith's departure from Company B, a direct competitor of Company
A. You have been tasked with coordinating the collection of ESI from the client,
Company A.
Given the importance of the client to the firm, the highly technical issues involved,
and the fact that computer code may need to be preserved, who would be best
suited to perform the collection of ESI?
A) The IT manager at the client who is certified in Microsoft infrastructure
B) A forensic expert familiar with ESI collection in litigation
C) An expert consultant who is familiar with computer code relevant to the case
D) You, as the person in -✓✓B
• A data forensic examiner is asked to perform an acquisition of a computer hard
drive. In addition to the collection, he is asked to perform the most thorough
quality control (QC) of the data.
What method of QC is likely to be most thorough?
A) Verify file numbers and sizes.
B) Verify MD5 or SHA1 hash values.
C) Copy data to a working hard drive and verify that all files function as intended.
D) Verify file names, date created fields, and time created fields. -✓✓B
• During a large-scale review involving many contract attorneys performing
document review, the review center manager overseeing the document review is
concerned about the potential for data leakage. The facts and circumstances of the
case are sensitive, and any leaks of documents or information could impact a key
revenue stream and embarrass the client's leadership.
Which step below is the most effective way the review center manager may reduce
the risk of data leakage?
A) Prohibit all cell phones in the review center.
B) Disable USB ports on the reviewer workstation computers.
, C) Limit certain reviewers' access to only certain documents.
D) Have all reviewers sign an NDA and monitor their review activities -✓✓D
• A partner at a law firm in the U.S. called his U.S.-based client's legal department
in Germany to start the legal hold process for an important new case in which ESI
will need to be transferred across international borders. The partner did not speak
German and the in-house attorney in Germany spoke and understood English, but
only haltingly. The in-house attorney refused to send a communication to potential
custodians in Germany directing them to preserve ESI in connection with the case.
What is likely to be the most productive next step the U.S.-based partner should
take?
A) Engage the client's data protection officer.
B) Fly to Germany to speak to the client in person.
C) Immediately hire the best forensic team to collect the data after business hours.
D) Document that the client is uncooperative and file it away internally. -✓✓A
• An e-discovery service provider has had several power outages and disruptions to
business operations and the law firm that hired them is frustrated. To vent their
frustration, the law firm has decided to withhold payment from the service
provider. The law firm also made the decision to switch to another service
provider. The original service provider is now threatening to withhold access to the
law firm's data. Technically, the withheld data belongs to the client of the law firm.
What service provider contract elements should be assessed before terminating the
service provider contract?
A) Service level agreements, data return and data ownership terms.
B) Data ownership and attorney work product ownership.
C) Confidentiality and payment terms and conditions.
D) Warranties by the service provider. -✓✓A
• During a document review, an issue arises where the review manager is
experiencing a high overturn rate during the quality control check of reviewer
coding decisions. More than half of the documents coded responsive by the
reviewers are being changed to non-responsive during quality control.
What is the best action below that the review manager might take to remedy the
poor performance by the review team?
A) Retrain the reviewers on responsiveness, issue, and privilege coding.
B) Provide keyboard shortcuts for the review platform to improve efficiency.
C) Set up a Slack channel to facilitate answering reviewer questions.
D) Reduce the number of documents being quality checked. -✓✓A
