Extract fron Petra Pasternak’s article “Why United Airlines Brings Discovery Work In-House”
For Paul Noonan at United Airlines, relying on legacy approaches to discovery is no longer an option — and hasn’t been for years. The reasons are simple: litigation data volumes are growing, outside counsel costs keep climbing, and the returns on centralizing discovery capabilities in-house are too compelling to ignore.
Headquartered in Chicago, United Airlines operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six continents with more destinations than any other airline.
“I’m a big proponent of insourcing as much discovery work as possible,” said Noonan, who joined the U.S. air carrier in spring of 2020 to streamline its ediscovery operations and is now Managing Counsel of Ediscovery and Information Governance. “There’s a lot you can do in-house that’s fairly straightforward and that starts to reclaim hours and reduce reliance on outside providers.”
Today, his team uses Everlaw to manage key stages on the left side of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model, or EDRM. These include data collection and processing as well as early case assessment, known as ECA, which helps the team quickly assess the scope and relevance of data early in the process, guiding decisions on the direction of the case. The team adheres to rules around culling minimums for reducing data sets before sending work out for further review. Outside counsel and other providers are brought in strategically to work within the platform rather than in disconnected systems.
