Item 31.1 Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certifications
CERTIFICATIONS
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I, Aldo C. Zucaro, as Chief Executive Officer and the interim Principal
Financial Officer of Old Republic International Corporation (the
"registrant")certify that:
1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of 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. I am 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 my
supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
known to me 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
34-49313];
(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. I have disclosed, based on my 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: November 8, 2004
/s/ Aldo C. Zucaro
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Aldo C. Zucaro, Chairman,
Chief Executive Officer and
Interim Principal Financial Officer
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