|
|
Thursday, January 8, 2026
|
|
 Note from David R. Adams:
Well Labor Law readers, it appears I should have waited one more day to publish this month’s edition of our newsletter. Yesterday, the anticipated Chapter Amendments to the AVOID Act came out and there are some big changes.
These amendments are not yet passed but have been referred to the Committee on Judiciary and, from what we are hearing, the language was agreed to by the Assembly and the Senate as a condition for the Governor signing the original bill.
These changes are not a huge surprise given the Approval Memorandum from the Governor where she specifically said that the act as drafted “contained ambiguities as to when the time for filing a summons and complaint would begin to run, treated third party defendants differently depending on when the third party is brought into the case, and did not allow courts the flexibility to account for unforeseen circumstances.”
-
The law will apply only to “all cases commenced on or after” the 120 days after the act becomes law. This is a major change as it originally applied not only to cases commenced but also to all cases pending.
-
The time frame for filing the third-party actions has been extended from 60 days to 90 days.
-
The language requiring a third-party plaintiff to obtain written consent from the court and the plaintiff’s attorney has been changed and now requires an order of the court but not consent of the plaintiff’s attorney.
-
The time limit for subsequent third-party actions is the same as for the first third-party action, 90 days.
-
Third-party actions may be filed after the filing of the Note of Issue upon good cause shown or in the interest of justice.
-
A third-party action against the employer may be filed within 90 days without order of the court and after 90 days of discovery of the identity of the plaintiff’s employer or the date the defendant or third-party defendant knows or should know that the plaintiff sustained a grave injury. This eliminates the need for written consent of the court and the plaintiff but reduces the time to do so to 90 days from 120 days.
These amendments do not in any way eliminate the issue created by the original act, the requirement to file third-party actions before the defendants have full knowledge of the necessary parties and, in many cases, the extent of the injuries, will lead to a shot gun approach to third-party practice. Unfortunately, the likely result will be more delay, more expense and fewer practical solutions, all in service of addressing a problem that, for most cases, simply did not exist.
Please join us for our Zoom seminar on January 29 at noon where we will have a discussion of the changes to third-party practice, its effect on defending these cases and the most practical solutions.
Click here to sign up for the webinar.
-David
Hurwitz Fine P.C.
The Liberty Building
424 Main Street, Suite 1300
Buffalo, New York 14202
Phone: 716.849.8900
Fax: 716.855.0874
Email: [email protected]
Labor Law Pointers is published the first Wednesday of each month. If you know of others who may wish to subscribe to this free publication, please feel free to forward it. If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe, please send an e-mail to [email protected] or call the Editor/Labor Law Team Leader David R. Adams directly at (716) 849-8916.
Don’t forget to subscribe to our other publications:
Coverage Pointers: This twice-monthly electronic newsletter summarizes important insurance law decisions from appellate courts in New York State with the occasional snapshot across borders. Coverage Pointers, the electronic newsletter that started it all, continues to offer guaranteed publication every other Friday, and a read-at-a-glance summary of important decisions as they happen. Contact Dan Kohane at [email protected] to subscribe.
Medical & Nursing Home Liability Pointers: Medical & Nursing Home Liability Pointers provides the latest news, developments, and analysis of recent court decisions impacting the medical and long-term care communities. Contact Liz Midgley at [email protected] to subscribe.
Premises Pointers: This monthly electronic newsletter covers current cases, trends and developments involving premises liability and general litigation. Contact Jody Briandi at [email protected] to subscribe.
Products Liability Pointers: This monthly newsletter covers all areas of products liability litigation, including negligence, strict products liability, breach of warranty claims, medical device litigation, toxic and mass torts, regulatory framework and governmental agencies. Contact Chris Potenza at [email protected] to subscribe.
|
|
Labor Law Pointers
Editor
David R. Adams
Associate Editor
Eric D. Andrew
Associate Editor
Patrice C. S. Melville
Associate Editor
Ashley M. Cuneo
Associate Editor
Tyler J. Eckert
Associate Editor
Jessica L. Deren
Associate Editor
Marten R. Violante
Labor Law Team
|
|
|
David R. Adams, Team Leader
[email protected]
Patrice C. S. Melville
[email protected]
Brian F. Mark
[email protected]
Elizabeth K. Ognenovski
[email protected]
Bradon S. Carlson
[email protected]
Joseph P. Mendoza
[email protected]
|
|
Hurwitz Fine P.C.
Buffalo
424 Main Street, Suite 1300, Buffalo, NY 14202
Phone: 716-849-8900, Fax: 716-855-0874
Long Island
25 Melville Park Road, Suite 260, Melville, NY 11747
Phone: 631-465-0700, Fax: 631-465-0313
Rochester
100 Office Park Way, Pittsford, NY 14534
Phone: 585-454-6850, Fax: 585-270-4572
Albany
Phone: 518-641-0398
Additional Offices
Albion | Amherst | Hartford, CT | Englewood, NJ | Niagara Falls
Hurwitz Fine P.C. is a full-service law firm providing legal services
throughout the State of New York
www.hurwitzfine.com
© 2026, Hurwitz Fine P.C. All Rights Reserved
In some jurisdictions, newsletters such as this may be considered Attorney Advertising.
|
|
|
|
|
