Probate Bonds: New Developments

Connie Boudreau is a Surety Claims Specialist at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, based in Seattle, where she has been a valued member of the Surety team for more than 20 years. For the past 12 years, she has specialized in commercial bond claims, with a particular focus on probate matters—an area she is especially passionate about.

Connie enjoys the personal aspect of working with individuals on the commercial side, as it allows her to connect with people and use her skills to help mitigate and resolve complex problems with clarity, confidence, and practical solutions. She brings a people-first approach to claims handling and is committed to delivering thoughtful, effective outcomes on every claim.

A graduate of Washington State University, Connie studied psychology and communications. She lives outside of Seattle with her husband, Rob, and their three dogs, Lucy, Stella, and Parker.

James “Jack” Richards is an Associate at the Krebs Farley New Orleans office. Jack practices in the areas of complex commercial litigation, construction litigation, bankruptcy, and surety law.

Jack has obtained several favorable results for surety-industry clients on motion practice including:

• Obtaining total dismissal of a surety from arbitration proceedings pre-hearing where the obligee sought more than $1 million in damages across multiple performance bonds.
• Enforcing a forum-selection clause in an Indemnity Agreement to defeat an indemnitor’s attempt to transfer the surety’s indemnity suit to a more favorable forum.

Jack has also obtained favorable results for non-surety clients:

• Securing 100% of the quoted cost of a roof repair from a commercial tenant pursuant to the terms of the lease.

Prior to joining Krebs Farley, Jack worked for a national firm primarily defending accounts receivable management companies from pre-suit demands, arbitrations, single-plaintiff lawsuits, and class-action lawsuits. He has experience in federal and state consumer protection law, commercial litigation, UCC Article 4A litigation, and EEOC charges. Prior to working in private practice, Jack clerked for the Hon. Mary Ann Vial Lemmon of the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Jack obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from Louisiana State University in 2016, before earning his J.D. cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law. While in law school, he was an Executive Editor of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law and both a member and coach of UGA Law’s ABA NAAC Moot Court team.

In the past, Jack has enjoyed doing pro bono work, which included a case that involved a wrongful conviction suit against the State of Louisiana. 

In his spare time Jack enjoys playing chess, cooking, and spending time with friends and family.