Item 31 Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certifications
                                                                    Exhibit 31.2






                                 CERTIFICATIONS
                                 --------------

I, John S. Adams, certify that:

      1.   I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Old
           Republic International Corporation ("the registrant");

      2.   Based on my knowledge, this 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 report;

      3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
           financial information included in this 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 report;

      4.   The registrant's other certifying officer(s) 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 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 report
                     is being prepared;

                 (b) [paragraph omitted pursuant to SEC Release Nos.
                     33-8238 and 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; and

      5.   The registrant's other certifying officer(s) 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 the registrant's board of directors
           (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

                 (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 control over
                     financial reporting.


Date: August 8, 2003


                                                /s/ John S. Adams
                                               --------------------------------
                                               John S. Adams, Senior Vice
                                               President and Chief Financial
                                               Officer




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