OOG Welcomes New Attorneys Nicholas Weil and Zita Orji

On May 24, 2021, the Office of Open Government (OOG) welcomed 2 new attorneys to our legal staff. Ms. Zita Orji is OOG’s new Trial Attorney and Mr. Nicholas Weil is OOG’s new Attorney Advisor. Both attorneys bring a wealth of legal experience to OOG and will be instrumental in ensuring that the District of Columbia government operates in a manner that is open and transparent.

Attorney Zita Orji is from Birmingham, AL and attended the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa where she attained a bachelor’s degree. She received the Juris Doctorate from Tulane Law School in New Orleans, LA.  Ms. Orji spent most of legal career as counsel for a non-profit organization and specialized in civil litigation. She is a self-described very obsessive plant mom and enjoys long distance running.  She looks forward to meeting everyone and is excited to work for the OOG. Attorney Orji's legal practice with OOG will focus on Open Meetings Act training and enforcement.

Attorney Nicholas Weil has worked in private practice and at all levels of government. Most recently, he was a litigator and researcher-writer who contracted with client firms across the United States. Mr. Weil began his legal career as a clerk for Justice Steven Levinson of the Supreme Court of Hawaii. He also worked as a codification lawyer for the U.S. House of Representatives, helping to edit and publish the U.S. Code.  After returning to graduate school, Mr. Weil entered private practice as a litigator (mostly appellate).  Mr. Weil has a Juris Doctor from Washington University, where he was editor-in-chief of the Washington University Journal of Law & Policy and parliamentarian for student government; a Master of Arts degree in Forensic Linguistics from Hofstra University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics from Harvard University.  His free-time preoccupations include hot peppers, backgammon, indoor cycling, outdoor walking (including golf), and animal welfare (including that of his and his wife’s own pets). Mr. Weil's legal practice with OOG will focus on providing legal advice and training on the interpretation and operation of the D.C. Freedom of Information Act.

We are thrilled to welcome our new attorneys to the OOG, Board of Ethics and Government Accountability, to work as advocates for open governance in the District of Columbia.