Bank of New York Mellon (International) Ltd & Ors v Cine-UK Ltd & Ors [2021] EWHC 1013 (QB) (22 April 2021)

Application for summary judgment by Landlords seeking payment of rent from commercial tenants.  Defendants argued that Claimants failure to negotiate and discuss the issue was inconsistent with Government guidance.  Court accepted that although it was within its power to stay claims for negotiation and "to require even unwilling parties to attend alternative dispute resolution hearings (see CPR3.1(2)(f) and (m) and Lomax v Lomax 2019 1 WLR 6527), it would be very unusual to do so where a party was seeking summary judgment on the basis that their claim was clear and all the more so if the court had actually concluded that that was the case (and to which this Judgment is also directed) – and I note that in a different COVID context I have reached a similar conclusion. See Trinity House v Prescott [2021] EWHC 283 at paragraph 20."