Ross Cellino Jr. is asking Erie County Supreme Court Justice Deborah Chimes to appoint a receiver to manage and operate the Buffalo-based personal-injury firm of Cellino & Barnes.

In an affidavit filed Wednesday evening, Cellino claims that appointing a receiver is the “only way to ensure that Cellino & Barnes P.C. continues to operate without internal dissention, and to prevent respondent Barnes from continuing to instill a toxic, dictatorial environment.”