Some background about us
In October 1993 John Fountain and Ralph Bönig founded fountain+bönig as a specialist dispute resolution legal firm.
John Fountain and Ralph Bönig, founders of fountain+bonig, 1993
Although John and Ralph were senior partners in a major firm at the time, one of their primary reasons for opening their own specialist legal practice was their:
“…strong belief that high quality, personalised legal assistance can best be delivered through specialisation in key areas, John and Ralph combined their considerable experience to provide a sense of direction and standard of service that is widely acknowledged to be second to none.”
Our firm specialises in a number of key areas of commercial litigation. Since the inception of fountain+bonig our core areas of practice have been professional indemnity and general insurance, medical malpractice, workers compensation, workplace relations and occupational health and safety. We continue to be regarded as the leaders in our chosen areas of practice.
As our primary client base comprises large corporations, both national and international, and statutory bodies, our principal competitors are predominately national legal firms. In order to successfully compete in this arena, it is critical that we not only provide a better service, but also achieve outstanding results. This is the cornerstone of our firm’s philosophy (and our success).
From 1993 until September 2007 we were located at Melbourne Street, North Adelaide, just a short distance from the city. While Melbourne Street had a friendly, cosmopolitan atmosphere, we were hampered by our inability to grow further. It was time for a change. As from September 2007 we have been located in the middle of the Courts precinct at 33 Angas Street, Adelaide. Not only are we now within a very short walk of all the Courts – a major advantage – but we have also achieved our primary objective of moving into offices with considerably more room. This move has enabled us to take advantage of other opportunities that have arisen. Our objective was for this to be reflected in an even higher quality of service to our clients, an objective we are confident we have met since moving to our new location.
As with any business, we have had challenges. Without doubt the foremost challenge for us occurred after the collapse of HIH in March 2001. HIH had been a major client of the firm. Its collapse resulted in what marketing professionals describe as a period of “negative growth” for us over the following 18 months. However, through a combination of the ongoing support of our other clients, our results and our success in a number of tenders and other initiatives, we returned to “positive growth” in early 2003 and have continued to build on this.
We have a stable team of lawyers who are the envy of many of our competitors. In recent years our team of senior lawyers has continued to grow. John Homburg, a practitioner of many years experience, joined us in July 2005. John predominately acts in the areas of medical malpractice and general insurance. John also qualified as a mediator in late 2007.
Since the inception of the firm, our senior members have also have an extensive involvement in extracurricular legal activities, thereby enabling us to contribute to the profession and the community in a broader manner. John Fountain has been past chair of the SA branch of the Australian Insurance Law Association (AILA); he has been a National Board member of AILA since 2001 and was elected to the executive of AILA as national Treasurer in late 2007. John has also been chair of the Law Society of SA Accident and Compensation Committee since 2000. Ralph Bönig has been a member of the Council of the Law Society of SA since 2004, has been a member of the Society Executive since 2005; he was elected Vice President of the Society in late 2008 and was appointed President-Elect of the Society in October 2009. John Homburg was also president of the SA branch of AILA since 2003 until late 2008. John was also elected as a member of the National Board of AILA in late 2007.
As well as undertaking work in our traditional role of dispute resolution lawyers, we provide strategic consultancy advice to a number of leading corporations and claims management auditing functions to one of South Australia’s major statutory Commissions.
We regard our strong emphasis on ethics, integrity and stability as a few of the key strengths of our firm.
As old fashioned lawyers we believe that the trust that has developed between us and our clients has been and remains a critical element in the success of fountain+bonig.
Over the years we have resisted the temptation to diversify and have remained focused on our core areas of practice. We are – and will remain – a boutique, specialist firm.
Updated November 2009
