ALA ALA Technology and Information Systems 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary function of a practice management system in a law firm?
- To track matters, deadlines, contacts, and billing in one platform (Correct answer)
- To manage payroll processing
- To handle outbound marketing campaigns
- To automate court e-filing
Correct answer: To track matters, deadlines, contacts, and billing in one platform
Practice management software centralizes matter tracking, calendaring, client contacts, time entry, and billing for operational efficiency.
Question 2: Which security principle limits each user's access to only the data and systems needed for their job?
- Principle of least privilege (Correct answer)
- Defense in depth
- Zero-trust architecture
- Role-based encryption
Correct answer: Principle of least privilege
The principle of least privilege minimizes risk by granting users only the minimum access rights required to perform their duties.
Question 3: What does an SLA (Service Level Agreement) define between a law firm and a technology vendor?
- Expected performance standards, uptime guarantees, and support response times (Correct answer)
- The vendor's software license fees
- Data privacy waiver terms
- Hardware ownership rights
Correct answer: Expected performance standards, uptime guarantees, and support response times
An SLA specifies measurable commitments such as system availability percentages and support response times that the vendor must meet.
Question 4: Which type of attack involves tricking employees into revealing passwords by posing as a trusted source via email?
- Phishing (Correct answer)
- Ransomware
- SQL injection
- Denial of service
Correct answer: Phishing
Phishing attacks use deceptive emails that appear to come from legitimate sources to steal credentials or install malware.
Question 5: What is the purpose of a disaster recovery plan (DRP) in a law firm?
- To restore IT systems and data after a major disruption (Correct answer)
- To prevent malpractice claims
- To onboard new IT staff
- To negotiate software contracts
Correct answer: To restore IT systems and data after a major disruption
A DRP documents procedures for restoring critical systems and data to minimize downtime following an outage, cyberattack, or disaster.
Question 6: Which document management system feature ensures only the latest version of a file is used?
- Version control (Correct answer)
- Optical character recognition
- Matter synchronization
- Cloud backup
Correct answer: Version control
Version control tracks document revisions, maintains history, and ensures users always access the current authoritative version.
ALA ALA Technology and Information Systems 1
What is the primary function of a practice management system in a law firm?