No one would be crazy enough to say that being raked over the coals by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was the best thing that ever happened to their firm. Still, Brian Storms, entrusted with recreating Marsh, believes the harsh spotlight of Mr. Spitzer's bid-rigging and contingency fee probe "forced us to step back and ask how we'll compete going forward," creating an "opportunity" to reconnect with customers.

"When you lose close to $1 billion in revenue and are forced to confront your clients in a way you never did before, out of necessity you have to take some pretty draconian measures," Mr. Storms said during an exclusive interview in his New York headquarters.

At first changes were made in Marsh's standard operating procedure because "we had a gun to our head"--referring to Mr. Spitzer's settlement terms--but Mr. Storms, who took over as chairman and CEO last September, added that reports of Marsh's demise were greatly exaggerated. "We were not damaged beyond repair, and we've since made a sea change in our way of doing business that goes way beyond giving up contingency commissions and making the brokering process more transparent."