1 month ago
92
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
Many New Yorkers can rattle off the phone number by heart. “Cellino v. Barnes” chronicles the rise and fall of these prominent injury lawyers.
Aug. 6, 2024, 5:03 a.m. ET
We must begin with the jingle.
It represents everything you probably know about Ross M. Cellino Jr. and Stephen E. Barnes: They were two New York personal injury lawyers reachable for years at 800-888-8888.
You may also recall hearing about trouble in paradise. The pair went to court in 2017 and, after an extended legal battle, officially split three years later. Then, just a few months following the divorce, Barnes and his niece died when a small plane he was piloting crashed.
Unlikely legal pioneers, Cellino and Barnes proved the power of advertising. From the 1990s through their breakup, they became billboard royalty whose influence expanded beyond western New York — where their original office was — to New York City and California, not only elevating the art of personal injury law but also enriching themselves in the process. Their firm made profits of more than $165 million from settling cases for its clients for $1.5 billion, according to court documents filed as part of the 2017 dispute.
Their story, including the demise of their empire, is now unfolding in the Off Broadway play “Cellino v. Barnes,” which is running through October at Asylum NYC. The show dates back to 2018, when it first played at Union Hall in Brooklyn.
The playwrights, Mike B. Breen, 35, and David Rafailedes, 34, said the broad outlines of the 75-minute play are basically true. But they condensed the timeline of events and took dramatic liberties as they saw fit.
