SECTION 302                      EXHIBIT 31.1
                           CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL
                                EXECUTIVE OFFICER

I, Grover L. Davis, certify that:

         1.   I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Crawford &
              Company;

         2.   Based on my knowledge, this quarterly 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 quarterly
              report;

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

         4.   The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible
              for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
              procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14)
              for the registrant and have:

              a)   designed such disclosure controls and procedures 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 quarterly report is being prepared;

              b)   evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                   controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to
                   the filing date of this quarterly report (the "Evaluation
                   Date"); and

              c)   presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the
                   effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures
                   based on our evaluation as of the Evaluation Date;

         5.   The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed,
              based on our most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors
              and the audit committee of registrant's board of directors (or
              persons performing the equivalent functions):

              a)   all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of
                   internal controls which could adversely affect the
                   registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and
                   report financial data and have identified for the
                   registrant's auditors any material weaknesses in internal
                   controls; and

              b)   any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                   or other employees who have a significant role in the
                   registrant's internal controls; and

         6.   The registrant's other certifying officers and I have indicated
              in this quarterly report whether or not there were significant
              changes in internal controls or in other factors that could
              significantly affect internal controls subsequent to the date of
              our most recent evaluation, including any corrective actions with
              regard to significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.

Date: August 1, 2003                       /s/ Grover L. Davis
                                           -------------------------------------
                                           Grover L. Davis
                                           Chief Executive Officer
                                           (Principal Executive Officer)

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