James E. Rudnik, Esq.

Education

• Juris Doctor, William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota
• Bachelor of Arts, Economics and Political Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Professional Societies/Memberships/Certifications

• Attorney, State of Minnesota and State of Illinois
• Federal District Courts, District of Minnesota
• Fidelity and Surety Law Committee - ABA
• Forum Committee of Construction Industry - ABA
• Surety Claims Institute - Board of Directors
• Surety Architect/Engineer Joint Steering Committee
• Florida Department of Financial Services license, Licensed Independent Adjuster #P105009

Background

Mr. Rudnik has spent 25 years in the surety industry, including time as an agent/broker, outside defense counsel, in-house claims counsel, and reinsurance claims manager. Mr. Rudnik established the claim department at Liberty Bond Services where he managed the design and implementation of all procedural and financial processing systems and had responsibility for all claims. His claim experience ranges from small contractor defaults to large complex defaults with exposures exceeding $100 million and he has extensive experience managing large, complex litigation. Mr. Rudnik has been a frequent speaker on claims topics at claims and agent/broker conferences.

Recent Experience

• Established administrative and support reporting systems for handling of Payment Bond claims for Liberty Bond Services. This included establishment of computer models for tracking financial aspects of the claims program.
  

• Set strategy and managed surety’s negotiations to obtain a security interest in the assets of a $3 billion publicly traded company to collateralize commercial bond exposure in excess of $100 million. This included reviewing securities documents and negotiating with investment bankers and other senior lenders and collateral trustees. In the process settled a disputed $29 million claim from a third-party indemnitor.
  

• Managed the restructuring of a large construction management firm with a backlog exceeding $100 million on 24 projects. This included negotiations for the sale of over 20 uncompleted projects to new investors combined with security to guaranty a cap on the surety’s exposure and ongoing monitoring. This was accomplished with no project disruption.
  

• Investigated, set strategy, and managed litigation on surety’s decision to support its principal’s termination of a subcontract on a $100-million federal detention center in New York City. Successfully defended allegations of bad faith and recovered a judgment for the benefit of the surety in excess of $5 million.