Exhibit 99.1

         ProAssurance Announces NCRIC Executive's Resignation


    BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 17, 2005--ProAssurance
Corporation (NYSE:PRA) announced today that R. Ray Pate, Jr., is
resigning as President of NCRIC, Inc., to pursue a career in
reinsurance, focusing on medical professional liability insurance.
NCRIC, Inc. is an insurance subsidiary of ProAssurance Corporation.
Pate was formerly the President of NCRIC Group, Inc., which was merged
into ProAssurance effective August 3, 2005.
    Pate, whose resignation is effective September 30, 2005, began his
insurance career as an employee of ProAssurance's predecessor company.
Pate said, "This is a bittersweet choice for me. I was fortunate to be
presented with two wonderful opportunities to further my career with
excellent companies that are leaders in their field. While I looked
forward to becoming a part of ProAssurance's management team, I
decided that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to broaden my
insurance knowledge by assuming a leadership position in the
reinsurance field."
    ProAssurance Corporation's Chairman, A. Derrill Crowe, M.D., said,
"We wish Ray all the best in his new endeavor. We looked forward to
having him back with us, but we understand his desire to take on a new
challenge. Ray assembled a talented team at NCRIC and we're lucky to
be able to retain a solid core of NCRIC employees who have years of
experience and local knowledge on which we can build our mid-Atlantic
franchise."

    About ProAssurance

    ProAssurance Corporation is a specialty insurer with more than
$3.4 billion in assets and almost $790 million in gross written
premiums. We are the nation's fourth largest writer of medical
professional liability insurance and our principal professional
liability subsidiaries are The Medical Assurance Company, Inc.,
ProNational Insurance Company, NCRIC, Inc., and Red Mountain Casualty
Insurance Company. We also write professional liability coverage
through Woodbrook Casualty Insurance Company. We are the tenth largest
writer of personal auto coverage in Michigan through our subsidiary,
MEEMIC Insurance Company.
    A.M. Best assigns a rating of "A-" (Excellent) to ProAssurance,
MEEMIC and our principal professional liability subsidiaries, except
NCRIC, Inc. which is rated B++ (Very Good). Standard & Poor's assigns
our principal professional liability carriers a rating of "A-"
("Strong") but has not yet issued a rating for NCRIC, Inc. Fitch
assigns a rating of "A-" to The Medical Assurance Company, ProNational
Insurance Company and MEEMIC Insurance Company.


    CONTACT: ProAssurance Corporation, Birmingham
             Frank B. O'Neil, 800-282-6242 or 205-877-4461
             foneil@ProAssurance.com