september14–27, 2020| newyork 43
them, a lot of times they are notthemost significantclientele.”
It was something one of the formerattorneysworriedabouta fair
amount. “ ‘Cellino & Barnes got me$500,000’is a littlemisleading
to people who aren’t as educated,”theattorneysays.“WhatI would
always say whenpeoplewouldcallmeandsay,
‘Well, that guy got$500,000,’ I’d say, ‘Butdidyou
see below his waist?He hadnolegs.’ ”
N 2012, on top of their$500,000-a-yearsalaries,
Cellino and Barneseachtookhome$5.4million.In
five years, that doubled.(“Anidioticamountof
money for personal-injury attorneys,”saysoneof
the former attorneys.)Barneshasa large lakefront
house, and he and Sturm recently purchased the
property next door. Barnes’s big indulgences appear
to be taking exotic trips to climb mountains and
piloting his own plane (he recently upgraded from
a propeller plane to a jet). Cellino bought a golf
courseandbeganbuildinga familyretreat onthe
shoresofLake Erie.Thisproject hasalternately
beendescribedincourtfilingsandinterviewswithmeasa “house,”
a “summercomplex,” anda “HyannisPort–likecompound” with
treesimportedfromJapan.
Astheirsuccessesmounted,though,Barnes’s ambitionsbroad-
ened.Discussionsbeganin 2011 aboutexpandingintothat litiga-
tionidyllofcarcrashesand 40 percentcontingencyfees:Califor-
nia.Aftersignificant planning,Cellinolargely backedout,
retaininga nominalpart ofthebusinesssoit couldremainunder
theCellino& Barnesumbrella.Barnesforgedahead,plowingmil-
lionsofhisownmoneyintotheproject. TheL.A.officeopenedin
early 201 4;OaklandandSanDiego wouldfollow.
InCellino’s telling,thenextyearwasthebeginningoftheend.
InOctober 20 15,feelingincreasinglypushedout,heaskedCiam-
bellatobreakdownthefirm’s revenuesbyoffice.He then
approachedBarneswiththeideaofsplittingtheirresponsibilities,
writinga long,detailedemailthat soundednotunlike someone
whohasgatheredupthecouragetoaskfora raise.He proposed
a division:BuffaloandRochestertoCellino,NYC toBarnes.“Buf-
faloandRochesterarestagnantat best, whileNYC is takingoff
likea rocketship,” hewrote.
Attheendofthenote,Cellinohintedatdeeperemotionalforces
atplay. “I haveabout 15 yearsleft ofmy career,” hewrote.“I feela
needtocontrolmydestiny.I haveexperiencedit somewhatinthe
GolfCoursebusiness,buttheprofitsarenottheretogetexcited
about.Youtoohaveexperienceda senseoffreedomwithyourCA
operation,andI amsureyouenjoy 100 percentcontrol.”
Barnessquelchedtheidea.“Itotallydisagreewiththecon-
cept,”hetoldthefirm’slawyersinanemail.Buthewasspooked.
That December, heemailedAnnaMarieCellino,whoapparently
didn’t knowwhat herhusbandhadbeenproposing.“Ihada
difficultmeetingwithRoss,” Barnestoldher. “Duringthat meet-
inghetoldmehewanteda ‘divorce’ fromme,andotherthings
thatI considertobelessthanrationalgiventhefact that thefirm
is doingbetterthanit everhas.”
Tensionsescalated.Atonepoint,themenscreamedat each
otherintheofficewithinearshotofemployees.“Whythefuck
wouldyouwanttofuckthisupwhenwearemaking 10 million
dollarsa year?”everyoneremembersBarnesyelling.Thatwas
especiallygallingtothestaffers,sinceforyearsthefirmhad
refusedtosubsidizetheirhealthinsurance.
Since2012,whenhisdaughterJeannagraduatedfromlaw
school,Cellinohadbeenpushingforhertojointhefirm,another
ideaBarnesdismissed.Cellinoswearshispitchtoseparate
wasn’t abouthiskids.“Whenthepublicperceivesthat I didthis
for my daughter, that’s not accurate,” he told me emphatically.
Still, he found Barnes’s objection ludicrous. Barnes’s brother and
companion were firm lawyers, and Cellino’s brother-in-law and
nephew were around too—why couldn’t Barnes extend the same
consideration to Cellino’s daughter? “There was no succession
planinplacewithSteveandme,” Cellinotoldme.“Ifwebothgot
hitbytheproverbialbus,thefirmwoulddisappearina matter
ofdays,frankly.I mean,thelawyerswouldleave,joinanother
firm,orstarttheirownfirm.”
WhenI askedBarnesabouthisrefusaltohireCellino’s daugh-
ter, hisanswerwasnolessmystifyingthanwhat hesaidtoRoss
himself.“Tome,thebusinessmodelwasnotonethat allowedfor
that” isallhewouldsay. Theexplanationthat madethemost
sensetomecamefromanat torneywhoknowsbothmen,Marc
Panepinto.“Pureconjecture,”hetoldme,“butI thinkhefeels,‘I
didtherightthingbyyou,bringingyouback,butbringingyour
fuckingdaughtersheretogivethefirmtothem—that’snotgoing
toworkforme.’”
A coupleofweeksafterBarnes’s interventionwithAnnaMarie,
Cellinotriedagain.Ina longemail,heoffereda revisedproposal
fora split:AllowforJeannatocomeworkat thefirm,butexclude
hersalaryandbonus—aswellasthoseoffamilymemberslike
EllenSturmandRichBarnes—fromthefirm’s profit-sharing
agreement.“I knowyoubelievethisis allaboutmy children,” Cel-
linotoldBarnes.“Itreallyis not.” He alsoproposedthat hecontrol
allthemarketingdecisionsfortheBuffalooffice,wherea competi-
tornamedWilliamMattarhadstartedtoeat awayat thebusiness
withhisowncatchy slogan(“Hurtina car?CallWilliamMattar”)
anda threateningphonenumber(“444-4444”).Cellinosaidthis
washistruereasonforaction.“Thedesiretobeat himdownover-
whelmsmewithdailythoughts.”
Barnesagainrejectedhispartner’ssuggestions.Themencar-
riedonlikethisformonths.In a March 2016 email(they now
seemedtodoeverythingbyemail,onaccountofthescreaming),
Cellinowrote,“Y ouweretheonethat drovea stakeinmy soul
whenyousaidtome‘Ross,whythefuckareyouquibblingover
nickelsanddimeswhenI literallygaveyoumillionsofdollars—
I didnothavetotake youback.’ ”
I
PHOTOGRAPH: ANDY BREEN (CELLINO V. BARNES OFF BROADWAY) (Continued on page 85)
Molly Hager and Max von Essen take the
Cellino & Barnes singing challenge.
The famous billboard
reaches meme status.
