Injury attorney Steve Barnes, one half of the famed Cellino & Barnes firm has died in a plane crash in upstate New York.
Cellino & Barnes became famous due to their ads featuring the catchy jingle, “Cellino & Barnes injury attorneys, 800-888-8888“.
Barnes died when the plane he was flying crashed in Genese County on Friday. In the crash, Barnes and his niece Elizabeth both passed away. They were the only two passengers on board.
Buffalo- based Cellino & Barnes were “locked in a bitter legal battle” since the duo split up. The lawsuit involved who would get the rights to the law firms famous jingle.
A few months back, they agreed to terms of how the firm would be split up. Ads featuring the jingle were supposed to end on October 10. After that, calls coming into the number would be sent for one week to Cellino’s new firm and the next one to Barnes’. This was set to continue for 18 months.
Steve Barnes’ niece Elizabeth was the daughter of his brother Rick, an attorney at the firm. Elizabeth Barnes was also an attorney.
Steve Barnes was flying a Socata TBM 700 when it crashed. He was the owner of the plane. The plane took off from Buffalo and was on the way to Manchester, NH.
Find out more from the New York Post here.