W. R. Berkley Corporation Names William J. Johnston President of Clermont Specialty Managers, Ltd.

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: BER) today named William J. Johnston president of Clermont Specialty Managers, Ltd. Mr. Johnston succeeds, as president, Alfred Schonberger, who will now serve as Clermont’s chairman and chief executive officer. Concurrently, David A. Gianfrancesco, now Clermont’s senior vice president – claims, has been promoted to executive vice president. The appointments are all effective as of October 1, 2007. Clermont, based in Hackensack, New Jersey, underwrites commercial multi-peril and workers' compensation insurance for high-rise cooperative, condominium, and quality rental buildings and the finer restaurants in the metropolitan New York City and Chicago areas. Clermont issues policies on behalf of Admiral Indemnity Company and Clermont Insurance Company, both of which are member companies of W. R. Berkley Corporation. Mr. Johnston comes to Clermont with 31 years of industry experience managing property and casualty insurance portfolios in the New York metropolitan region. He previously worked at several nationally known insurance carriers after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976. Mr. Schonberger has been with Clermont since its founding in 1986. Mr. Gianfrancesco joined the company in 1993. Founded in 1967, W. R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company that is among the largest commercial lines writers in the United States and operates in five segments of the property casualty insurance business: specialty insurance, regional property casualty insurance, alternative markets, reinsurance, and international.