In late December 2025, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law the “AVOID Act,” which amended CPLR 1007 to impose draconian deadlines on defendants’ time to commence impleader actions in New York State courts. Two months later, lawmakers implemented significant changes to the Act that provided slight concessions to the defense bar (which was unfairly maligned as “vexatious,” “delaying,” “egregious,” and “clever” within New York State Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr.’s “justification” for the bill and within the title of the Act itself).
These amendments were signed into law on February 13, 2026:
- Pre-Note of Issue Deadline for Impleader: The amended bill sets a new deadline of 90 days after answering for a defendant to commence a third-party action, regardless of the nature of the suit (doing away with the original bill’s 60-day timeline and its distinctions between contractual and common-law claims). A defendant must obtain a court order to permit the filing of a third-party
