BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A court document filed Wednesday afternoon spells out the proposed next steps in the protracted breakup up high-profile Buffalo attorneys Ross Cellino and Steve Barnes.
An attorney for each lawyer filed a stipulated order of dissolution with Judge Deborah Chimes in Erie County Supreme Court.
The order states that Cellino and Barnes have agreed to dissolve the business in accordance with Article 10 of the New York Business Corporation Law.
Here's what both sides propose should come next:
- By January 24, both sides will tell the judge which winding-up issues they agree upon, and the ones they're disputing
- On January 28, both sides will meet with the judge, who will determine how the winding-up issues will be addressed
- On February 25, the judge will establish a timetable for Cellino and Barnes to open their own separate law firms
The judge has yet to sign off on the order.
Barnes said in a statement he plans to call his own law firm "The Barnes Firm." That's what he renamed the Cellino & Barnes offices in California after Cellino relinquished his ownership in those offices in 2017. The Barnes Firm will unite his California and New York offices into a national law firm.
It is not yet known what Cellino intends to call his own firm.
Cellino began this process in 2017, citing allegations of client poaching and nepotism.
