When the men behind America’s second favorite law firm jingle — we still love you Nixon Peabody — first went to court to dissolve their partnership, we predicted it might turn into a messy divorce. Initial reports included allegations of shady business practices and backstabbing over personnel, but the latest filings really lay bare how much bad blood has festered up there.
Earlier this week, Barnes accused Cellino of trying to poach attorneys away for a new venture, branding Cellino’s conduct “reprehensible.” He claimed that Cellino told firm attorneys that “the ‘Cellino’ name was ‘better’ than the ‘Barnes’ name-analogizing our firm to Harley-Davidson and telling people ‘no one ever calls their motorcycle a Davidson,” which may be meddling, but is, you know, true.[1] In any event, Barnes’s filing earned an injunction from the judge to prevent Cellino from disrupting the firm’s status quo.
Cellino responded yesterday with a brief, accompanied by a pair of affidavits, that really denied any interference and said it was Barnes, not Cellino, who engaged in “a coordinated campaign of bullying other attorneys.”
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“If the pot calling the kettle black were a formal legal principle, it would be our first citation,” attorney Terrence M. Connors, who represents Cellino, said in a court filing Wednesday.
Barnes’ request for a judicial status quo directive “smacks of hypocrisy in light of Barnes’ own campaign to malign Cellino, take unilateral actions to further his own financial interests and demand that attorneys of the firm essentially pledge their loyalty to him,” Connors said in his affidavit.
Yes, but how would you Bluebook that, Mr. Connors? How indeed.
But the best stuff in these filings comes in the name-calling that both sides seem more than eager to engage in:
“I am convinced that a receiver is the only way to ensure that Cellino & Barnes continues to operate without internal dissension and to prevent Barnes from continuing to instill a toxic, dictatorial environment,” Cellino said in his affidavit.
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Well then.
The parties will appear before the judge today. Hopefully they have some more things to say to each other soon.
New court filing: Cellino says ‘bully’ Barnes created ‘venomous culture’ [Buffalo News]
Earlier: Behind The Music Law Firm: Cellino & Barnes
[1] For a video history of Harley-Davidson’s corporate history, here’s a scene from Fletch Lives. I assume it’s entirely accurate:
Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.