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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

I, Robert W. Howe, certify that:

1.       I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Atlantic Data
Services, Inc.;

2.       Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any
untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
quarterly report;

3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report;

4.       The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and we have:

         (a)      designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                  such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                  our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                  to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
                  made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
                  during the period in which this quarterly report is being
                  prepared;

         (b)      [paragraph omitted in accordance with SEC transaction
                  instructions contained in SEC Release 34-47986];

         (c)      evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                  controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                  conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
                  and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
                  report based on such evaluation; and

         (d)      disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                  internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
                  the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's
                  fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that
                  has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
                  affect, the registrant's internal control over financial
                  reporting;

5.       The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based
on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent function):

         (a)      all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                  design or operation of internal control over financial
                  reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
                  registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
                  financial information; and

         (b)      any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                  or other employees who have a significant role in the
                  registrant's internal controls;

Date: August 06, 2003

                                       By: /s/ Robert W. Howe
                                       -----------------------------------------
                                       Robert W. Howe
                                       Chairman and Chief Executive Officer