I’ve been meaning to cover this. Recently, ACEDS released its 2021 ACEDS Membership Report which has quite a bit of information about the current state of ACEDS membership, CEDS certification and so forth. Let’s take a look.
According to the Letter of the Leadership written by Mike Quartararo, President of ACEDS and Maribel Rivera, Senior Director of Community Relations, membership in ACEDS has grown by 5 percent and CEDS-certified professionals has increased by 7 percent. There are now more than 1,500 legal professionals across the globe who are CEDS-certified.
Additionally, in the past year, in response to the demand of the membership, ACEDS added the eDiscovery Technology Certificate (eDTech) program. With more than 450 people who have signed up, this program offers exposure to real-life software applications in the eDiscovery market.
In response to increased demand, ACEDS also launched an enhanced component of the ACEDS Mentorship Program and ACEDS Study Groups. These weekly meetings are held in several time zones to accommodate global members who are preparing for the CEDS exam and have been extremely popular. So far, 159 candidates have registered for an ACEDS Study Group.
ACEDS has also been working to enhance ACEDS’ member benefits. Members now receive free CLE training courses and credits through our partner CLE Companion. If studying for the CEDS exam, CEDS candidates receive a free trial to a case law database focused exclusively on eDiscovery case law from their partner (and mine) eDiscovery Assistant.
Additional noteworthy accomplishments include:
- Launch of the CEDS Canada Exam, the first international version of the CEDS exam
- New chapters formed in Atlanta and Vancouver
- Formation of the ACEDS IDEAA Committee (Inclusion, Diversity, Equality, Access & Awareness)
The 14-page 2021 ACEDS Membership Report is available to all members including affiliates and affinity partners. It’s chock-full of other notable stats regarding the ACEDS community, the membership experience, ACEDS global chapters, CEDS members and resources. It also discusses advancing diversity, equity, belonging and inclusion in the profession and provides a list of ACEDS Global Advisory board members and partners (including eDiscovery Today, which is an affinity partner).
One last thing. This year ACEDS has established the Robert Childress Scholarship which will be awarded annually to five individuals. The scholarship enables recipients to enroll in the CEDS Complete or CEDS Standard program. The scholarship is named for Robert E Childress III, founder of The Master’s Conference who was committed to providing continuing education and resources to legal professionals. The scholarships are made possible by ACEDS sponsors in the industry and will be awarded in Q1 of 2022.
Speaking of ACEDS, TODAY, the Houston Chapter of ACEDS will be conducting a FREE virtual Technology Showcase and Trivia Contest from 12:00pm CT to 1:30pm CT. It should be a fun and interactive event showcasing some of the leading eDiscovery technologies in the industry (from Compliance, Exterro, InsightOptix and IPRO) followed by a fun trivia contest, where you can win significant prizes, including a standard CEDS certification package worth $1,495 and other prizes worth up to $200! Register here!
So, what do you think? Interested in learning about terrific eDiscovery solutions and like to play trivia games? Then, join us! Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.
Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by my employer, my partners or my clients. eDiscovery Today is made available solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Today should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.