Prominent personal injury attorney Steve Barnes killed in plane crash

Steve Barnes, a former partner in one of the nation’s most prominent personal injury law firms, died on Friday when the single-engine plane he was piloting crashed in upstate New York. He was 61.

Steve’s niece, Elizabeth Barnes, also died in the crash his former partner, Ross Cellino, told The Buffalo News.

“It is with great sadness that I learned of the tragic passing of Steve Barnes in a plane crash,” Cellino told the newspaper.

Update 10:07 a.m. EDT Oct. 3: Flight safety officials will not travel to the crash site to conduct their investigation because of the coronavirus, officials said Saturday morning.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board typically travel to 350 of the nearly 1,300 flight-related incidents that happen each year.

“Our investigator will gather information from a variety of sources and a preliminary report will be issued in the next few weeks,” Christopher O’Neil, spokesperson for the safety agency, said in a statement.

Original Report: According to Kathleen Bergen, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane crashed in a wooded area near Pembroke, about 32 miles east of Buffalo, The New York Times reported.

According to a statement from Genesee County Sheriff William Sheron Jr., witnesses saw the westbound plane go down around 11:46 a.m. and explode in some woods.

“It dropped from the sky. He heard the crash. And (saw) the fireball,” the sheriff told the News.

The single-engine Socata TBM-700 was flying from Manchester, New Hampshire, to Buffalo when it crashed, WKBW reported.

Barnes was a former Marine and fought in the Gulf War, People reported.

In a telephone interview, Ruth Barnes told the News her ex-husband and his niece were traveling to a birthday party in Buffalo for Barnes' mother.

A former Marine Corps officer and combat veteran of the Gulf War, Steve Barnes became a well-known attorney after teaming with Cellino in a law firm that ultimately became Cellino & Barnes, according to his website.

Barnes and Cellino, both based in Buffalo, joined forces in 1992 and worked together for nearly three decades before Cellino filed papers to dissolve the firm in May 2017, People reported.

In June, Barnes and Cellino announced they would officially split into two firms, Cellino Law and The Barnes Firm, according to WKBW.

The business partners, who at one point were earning $500,000 per year, tried some of the nation’s biggest personal injury cases. Their motto of “Don’t wait! Call 8!” a reference to the firm’s telephone number, 800-888-8888, was a catchy jingle.

“Steve was a friend, colleague, partner and mentor to so many people across our firm,” The Barnes Firm said in a statement. "Steve and Elizabeth will be sorely missed by many.”

“He was always a fearless advocate for his clients,” Cellino wrote in a statement to the Times. “His passing is a significant loss for the legal community.”

Cox Media Group