A statement released on Thursday on the Cellino & Barnes letterhead sought to reassure the firm’s 300 staff members and the firm’s clients. “Mr. Barnes and the firm plan to aggressively oppose the dissolution papers filed by Mr. Cellino,” it stated. “However, we reiterate that regardless of outcome, the firm will continue to do business in the many markets we serve.”

With the retirement of Dr. Jonathan Zizmor, the celebrity dermatologist, last year, the specter of Mr. Cellino and Mr. Barnes splitting up threatened to further deplete the landscape of happily amateurish ads on the city’s subway lines, many of which have been overtaken by glossy new spots for mattresses, fast fashion and “doers” (whatever those are).

The two personal injury lawyers, whose names alone set the jukeboxes in New Yorkers’ heads ringing with the sound of their jingle, have appeared on billboards together since the mid-90s. The firm, started by Mr. Cellino’s father, Ross M. Cellino Sr., in 1958 as Cellino & Likoudis, became a powerhouse in the world of personal injury law, with billboards that asked a basic question — “Injured?”— and provided their names and a phone number.

In 2012, the firm changed that number from 854-2020 to the more memorable, 888-8888. Their firm, which has multiple locations in New York and California, employs more than 70 lawyers.

In 2005, Mr. Cellino’s license was suspended for six months after he was found guilty of professional misconduct in complaints stemming from a decade earlier. During that time, the business was called The Barnes Firm.