COLUMBUS, Ohio — Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLC has announced that Scott North has re-joined the firm's Columbus office as a partner in the Litigation Department, chair of the firm's Government and Regulatory Affairs Practice Group and key resource in the firm's Environmental Practice Group.

North left the firm last year, when he served as the Ohio governor's special representative on regulatory reform, creating and implementing Gov. Ted Strickland's Advantage Ohio initiative.  Advantage Ohio was created to improve Ohio 's business climate and eliminate unnecessary, redundant and inefficient regulations and regulatory practices that constrain business and development in the state.

In private practice, North maintains a complex civil litigation docket that focuses on environmental cases and business and commercial law disputes.  His practice also extends across a broad scope of other litigation matters — from intellectual property and public contracts to product liability and insurance coverage.  This longstanding, established practice has brought North before numerous state and federal trial and appellate courts in Ohio and other states.

Also, North's experience collaborating with the business community and state officials on regulatory reform places him in a position, as chair of the firm's growing Government and Regulatory Affairs Practice Group, to strengthen Ohio's economy one business at a time.

Originally from Dayton, Ohio , North earned the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council's Excellence in Public Service Award for 2007.

Porter Wright Morris & Arthur is a nationally recognized law firm that traces its origins to 1846 in Ohio .  With more than 250 lawyers, the firm also has offices in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio; Naples, Fla.; and Washington, D.C.