Member News: Burns & Levinson Featured in The Boston Globe

On February 8, Burns & Levinson won a precedential Suffolk Superior Court decision granting partial summary judgment to Caffè Nero after its landlord terminated its 15-year lease, evicted the company from its Newbury Street location, and sought to recover unpaid rent and other costs. The dispute began after Governor Baker closed all Massachusetts restaurants in late March due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Caffè Nero was forced to close its 30 locations in Massachusetts for the months of April and May to comply with the order.

Burns & Levinson's Andrea Martin, who led Caffè Nero’s litigation team, spoke with The Boston Globe regarding the landmark precedential win. “This decision might encourage landlords and tenants to try and work things out. It’s not going to be a clear-cut case where landlords just automatically get their rent.”