Illinois Education Association Boosts Legal Efficiency and Advocacy with Onit

The Illinois Education Association (IEA) supports more than 130,000 members—teachers, higher ed faculty, education support professionals, and future educators—through advocacy and employment-related legal assistance. With legal offices in three locations across the state, IEA’s Legal Department needed a centralized solution to improve consistency, collaboration, and operational efficiency.

“Each office had its own system for managing matters, and none of them talked to each other,” said Ann Holmes, Administrative Assistant. “Documents were stored on individual computers. There was no consistency—no easy way to share files, track phone logs, or store email. Everything was manual, scattered, and inefficient.”

After evaluating several platforms, IEA selected Legal Files, part of the Onit ecosystem, for its ability to consolidate legal operations, automate workflows, and support a mission-driven team. Onit’s Legal Files allowed the department to:

• Centralize documents, emails, and phone logs within each matter file.
• Standardize document naming, filing, and tracking across offices.
• Route documents electronically, eliminating mailing and manual scanning.
• Automate document generation using templates populated with matter data.
• Improve visibility and collaboration across remote offices.

“We needed a system that made our jobs easier and helped us be better advocates for our members,” said Holmes. “Legal Files was clearly the right choice.”