A Hartford native, John L. Bonee III has been an active member of the Connecticut bar for his entire career. Following the tradition of service by lawyers to their clients and community set by his grandfather and continued by his late father, John understands the importance of using his extensive legal experience to benefit his clients and those in need of help.
Although John’s practice spans a variety of areas, including civil trial work, estate administration, and wills and trusts, his primary focus in any case has been and will always be his client. With a people-oriented practice, John takes great satisfaction from helping real individuals with real legal problems. So whether it’s working to protect an “adopted out” woman’s stake in a multi-million dollar trust or successfully arbitrating more than a million dollars in compensation for a young man who suffers from debilitating injuries caused by a careless driver, John vigorously pursues his clients' cases to help them achieve the justice they deserve.
John Bonee’s pursuit of the best results for his clients and his strong loyalty to them, has enabled him the privilege of being retained for some unusual quests on his clients’ behalf. For example, he represented the administrators of an estate wherein the decedent had purchased an unauthenticated work of art for $3 at a tag sale which was later stolen from the estate and then demonstrated to be by a famous artist. He and his firm brought suit for recovery which led to extensive litigation and ultimately a mediated settlement of a seven figure amount to the estate. In addition, ancillary claims, tax issues, and administrative accountings had to be tackled. All just an example of the nature of the varied but dedicated work John and his partners at BoneeWeintraub LLC do for their beloved clients.
In addition to his membership in the Connecticut Bar Association (CBA), he has been elected by his peers to its Board of Governors and House of Delegates. He is a member of the CBA’s Standing Committee on Professionalism/Continusing Legal Education, and Probate, Litigation, and Family Law Sections; John is a Cooper Fellow in the Connecticut Bar Foundation. He also is a member of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association and the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates (1995 - 2005) and Litigation, General Practice and International Law Sections. He is a former member of the Hartford County Bar Association’s Board of Directors and Professionalism/Leadership Conference Committee, and has been elected to serve as treasurer, secretary, and president of the Hartford County Bar Association; currently he serves as Chair; Lawyer Referral Services, and member, Bench I Bar Committee. He is also a past member of the West Hartford Town Council, Community Planning Advisory Committee, and Board of Education and a former West Hartford Corporation Counsel. He is currently listed in Marquis Who’s Who in American Law and America, and has authored several articles in the fields of civil litigation, municipal law, international law, juvenile law, professionalism, as well as on estate, trust and probate issues. In April of 2011, John was named one of Greater Hartford’s Top Attorneys in the personal injury field by Hartford Magazine.
Attorney Bonee handles complex civil and probate litigation cases, including matters related to personal injury law, estate planning and administration, will contests, family law, administrative appeals, and municipal, zoning and planning issues. He is admitted to practice before state and federal courts in Connecticut, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.
He is a graduate of the Loomis Chaffee School, Trinity College (B.A. History), and Suffolk University Law School (J.D.); additional work/study: Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda and The Hague Academy of International Law.