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| 333 South Wabash, 40-South, Chicago, IL 60604 | Thomas Pontarelli |
| August 25,2009 Mr. Timothy Szerlong           | Executive Vice President &  Chief Administration OfficerTelephone    312-822-5291Facsimile    312-817-4030e-Mail    thomas.pontarelli@cna.com |

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| 1. | We are offering you the position of President, Worldwide Field Operations reporting to Tom Motamed, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of CNA. Your semi-monthly salary will be $25,000, which is $600,000 on an annualized basis. Your first day of employment will be September 8, 2009, unless we mutually agree to an earlier date. |

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| 2. | CNA will provide you with a new hire bonus of $500,000 (the “New Hire Bonus”), in order to compensate you for the forfeited equity compensation from your previous employment. |

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| 3. | In addition to the New Hire Bonus, if your prior employer prohibits you within five years after your start date, pursuant to the terms of Chubb’s long-term incentive plan, from exercising any stock options or you forfeit or are required to repay any earned shares which you would have otherwise been entitled to exercise or receive but for the fact you accepted employment with CNA, CNA will pay you an additional amount equal to the value of such forfeited equity compensation up to a maximum of $700,000 (the “Additional New Hire Bonus”).  In order to receive the Additional New Hire Bonus, you must provide the company with written documentation from your prior employer of each forfeiture of equity compensation, and the company will pay you an amount equal to the amount so forfeited within sixty days of receipt of such documentation, up to the maximum amount of $700,000.  You must be employed at the time of each payment in order to be eligible to receive the payment (except as otherwise provided in section 7), and all payments are less applicable withholding taxes. |

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| 4. | In addition to your base salary, you will be eligible to participate in the CNA Annual Incentive Plan and the Corporate Long-Term Incentive Compensation Plan as provided by the terms in the plan documents. |

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| • | CNA Annual Incentive Plan - You will be eligible to participate in the CNA Annual Incentive Plan. Your annual incentive target will be 100% of your annual base salary. Payouts occur in March of the year following the performance period and could range from 0%-200% of your incentive target depending on performance and business results. You must be an active employee through the date of payment to receive this bonus. Lastly, we have agreed for the 2009 performance year only, to guarantee your annual bonus at target $600,000 less any 2009 performance year annual bonus amount that you receive from your prior employer, payable in March 2010, provided you are actively employed at the time of payout. |

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| • | Corporate Long-Term Incentive Compensation Plan - You will be eligible to participate in the Long-Term Incentive Compensation Plan effective as of your date of hire. Your LTI cash target will be 20% of your year-end base salary over a three-year performance cycle, prorated based on your hire date. Payouts could range from 0-200% of target, depending upon CNA’s overall business results as determined by the Compensation Committee of the CNA Financial Corporation (“CNAF”) Board of Directors in its sole discretion. |

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| • | Subject to the approval of the Compensation Committee of the CNAF Board of Directors at its October 2009 meeting, you will be awarded a special sign-on grant of 10,000 stock appreciation rights (SARs) of CNAF common stock. The date of grant for this special award shall be the approval date of the award. In addition, beginning in 2010 and going forward, you will be awarded a minimum grant of 10,000 SARs (or equivalent) of CNAF common stock, subject to Compensation Committee approval. |

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| • | Club Allowance - If you join a club or multiple clubs of your choice depending upon business needs and your interest, CNA will reimburse you for the one-time initiation fee (or fees) up to a maximum of $8,000, as well as the annual dues and assessments up to $8,000 for each fiscal year (November 1-October 31). This amount is the maximum that will be reimbursed for all clubs in a fiscal year. All club allowance reimbursements will be treated as imputed taxable income. |

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| • | Tax Preparation Service - You will be eligible to use the annual tax preparation services of our company-designated tax provider, Topel Forman, LLC for tax year 2009. Your actual tax preparation expenses for tax year 2009 will be treated as taxable imputed income. |

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| • | Executive Physical Exam Program - You will be eligible to participate in the Executive Health and Wellness Program administered by Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group (NMPG) through their Center for Partnership Medicine or through your own physician. CNA will pay for the cost of this physical exam and related tests. This perquisite is provided on a tax-free basis. |

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| • | Vacation - CNA does not have a formal vacation policy for Senior Officers of the company, however, you are encouraged to take time off for rest, travel and recreation. The company realizes your responsibility for meeting corporate objectives and that you will work with the CEO to schedule your time off around business needs. Since there is not a formal vacation policy applicable to you, you will not accrue vacation time. |

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| 6. | In addition to executive perquisites, you will enjoy a complement of benefits as provided for under CNA policy, including first day coverage for life, health, dental, vision and disability coverage. As a new employee, you will be immediately eligible to participate in the CNA Savings and Capital Accumulation Plan (S-CAP) and CNA Supplemental Executive Savings and Capital Accumulation Plan (SES-CAP) through a combination of your own and company contributions. The SES-CAP is a non-qualified retirement plan that allows you to continue to receive contributions that may be restricted under the S-CAP due to certain Internal Revenue Code limits. |

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| • | Annual base salary of $600,000; and |

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| • | Annual target bonus of 100% of base salary; and |

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| • | Target company performance; and |

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| • | Employee contributions by you of at least 6%; |

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| 7. | In the event your employment with CNA is terminated for Convenience (as the term “Convenience” is defined in the attached Exhibit A) within five years of your date of hire, you will receive the following: |

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| (a) | Separation Pay equal to the sum of (i) 12 months of your base salary plus target annual bonus in effect at the time of your termination, plus (ii) an additional |

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| • | $1,750,000 if your employment terminates before the first anniversary of your start date |

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| • | $1,400,000 if your employment terminates on or after the first anniversary but prior to the second anniversary of your start date |

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| • | $1,050,000 if your employment terminates on or after the second anniversary but prior to the third anniversary of your start date |

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| • | $700,000 if your employment terminates on or after the third anniversary but prior to the fourth anniversary of your start date |

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| • | $350,000 if your employment terminates on or after the fourth anniversary but prior to the fifth anniversary of your start date |

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| (a) | Any portion of the New Hire Bonus not paid to you prior to your termination of employment will be paid in a lump sum, less applicable tax withholding, within sixty (60) days following your termination of employment for Convenience, and you will not be obligated to repay any portion of the New Hire Bonus previously paid to you. |

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| (b) | Any portion of the Additional New Hire Bonus with respect to which you had submitted the written documentation prior to your termination for Convenience will be paid in accordance with section 3 despite your termination, and you will not be obligated to repay any portion of the Additional New Hire Bonus previously paid to you.  In addition, if you forfeit additional equity compensation from your prior employer after your termination of employment, but prior to the fifth anniversary of your start date, you may submit the written documentation of such forfeiture to the company and any remaining portion of the Additional New Hire Bonus to which you may be entitled by reason of such forfeitures will be paid to you, less applicable tax withholding, on the later of the fifth anniversary of your start date or the first business day that is more than six months after your termination of employment. |

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| 8. | It is the understanding and intention of the Company that any New Hire Bonus, Additional New Hire Bonus and Separation Pay that might be paid to you pursuant to the terms of this letter agreement are exempt from the rules applicable to deferred compensation under §409A of the Internal Revenue Code as short-term deferrals (except for any portion of the Additional New Hire Bonus based upon forfeitures |

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| 9. | This offer of employment is contingent upon your successful completion of our hiring process, which includes: |

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| • | Verification of the information provided on the CNA employment application that you completed; |

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| • | References; |

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| • | Your agreement with and signing of CNA’s Confidentiality, Computer Responsibility and Professional Certification Agreement; |

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| • | Completing, on your first day of employment, the procedures required by federal law for pre-employment verification of your identity and authorization to work in the United States. You must bring the required identification and employment authorization documentation with you on your start date; failure to do so may result in delay or suspension of your employment; |

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| • | Successful completion of CNA’s drug screening process; |

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| • | Successful completion of CNA’s Conflict of Interest questionnaire; |

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| • | Your agreement to participate in the direct deposit payroll program; |

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| • | As a condition of your employment at CNA, you agree, to the fullest extent allowed by law, that for a period of 12 months following the end of your employment with CNA, you will not employ or solicit for employment, either directly or indirectly, any person who is or was an employee of CNA during that 12 month period. |

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| • | You agree and acknowledge that you are not subject to any restrictive covenants under the terms of any prior employment that will affect your ability to perform your position here at CNA other than those already disclosed by you in your current employer’s Long-Term Stock Incentive Plan equity award agreements (e.g., Performance Share Award Agreement, and Restricted Stock Unit Agreement), examples of which you have shared with CNA. |

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| i) | breach this agreement or any other written agreement between you and the Company; |

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| ii) | take any action or fail to act in any manner that constitutes misconduct, willful malfeasance or gross negligence, or involves fraudulent, dishonest, or unethical conduct with respect to your work for the Company; |

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| iii) | violate any law or regulation applicable to your work for the Company, or you violate in any material respect any written policy or procedure of the Company; or |

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| iv) | engage in conduct that results in adverse publicity or harm to the business or reputation of the Company. |

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