The AVOID Act significantly alters third-party practice under CPLR § 1007, When Third-Party Practice Allowed.
Commonly referred to as the AVOID Act (Avoiding Vexatious Overuse of Impleading to Delay), Senate Bill 8071-A was signed on December 19, 2025, and became effective on April 18, 2026.
While these changes are of special concern in cases involving construction accidents, where multiple contractors, subcontractors, and insurers are often implicated, its impact will be felt across the litigation spectrum.
- The Act applies to all actions commenced on or after April 18, 2026.
- A defendant must now file a third-party summons and complaint within 90 days of serving an answer, or within 90 days of becoming aware that a person or entity may be liable for all or part of the plaintiff’s claim. Applies to both Contractual or Common Law claims.
- The Act provides a limited extension for claims against employers involving a “grave injury,” allowing 90 days from the answer, discovery of the employer’s identity or when the defendant knew or should have known that the plaintiff sustained a Grave Injury as defined in section 11.
- If the third-party action is not brought within the 90 days, it will not be allowed to proceed without order of the court.
- No third-party action may be brought once the Note of Issue is filed without court order with good cause shown or in the interest of justice.
- If a third-party action is filed in violation of the act, it shall be severed or dismissed without prejudice, and;
- If a third-party action is either severed or dismissed, a motion to consolidate a new action shall not be permitted.
We have several recommendations to protect your client:
- Diary the 90-day deadline for filing third-party action from date of filing answer.
- Meet with the client ASAP to obtain all contracts and available information to assess who could be a potential third-party defendant.
- Discovery demands for production of all contracts, policies and accident reports must be served immediately.
- Follow up on the day discovery responses are due indicating that the failure to respond is prejudicing your ability to file any third-party actions within the time limits of the act. Extensions for this discovery must be very short, in writing and note the reason it is only a short extension. (This will be very helpful if you later need to obtain an order for late filing of the third-party complaint).
- Discuss potential additional parties with the existing parties, plaintiff and co-defendants, as they may have more information on who should be a third-party defendant.
- When in doubt, file the third-party claim. Once filed, you have 120 days to serve. File within the 90 days, send a courtesy copy to the party and seek to expedite the exchange of sufficient discovery to determine if they are a valid third-party defendant, and grant liberal extensions to answer the third-party defendant while critical discovery is exchanged.
For a more detailed analysis, read The AVOID Act and New York Labor Law Defense: Expect More Litigation, Not Less By: David Adams, chair of Hurwitz Fine’s NYS Labor Law (Scaffold Law) & Construction Defect team.
