February 3, 2026

On December 19, 2025, New York enacted the “Avoiding Vexatious Overuse of Impleading to Delay” (“AVOID”) Act, which amends CPLR § 1007 to impose defined time limits on third-party practice. The statute, codified as S8071, sets a sixty (60)-day deadline for a defendant to file and serve a third-party summons and complaint after serving an answer when the alleged third-party liability arises from a contractual relationship, or within sixty (60) days of learning of potential third-party liability. The Act also establishes progressively shorter filing periods for successive third-party complaints and limits extensions to thirty (30) days by stipulation, with any further extensions requiring court approval. The amended statute also requires that third-party defendants be served with the third-party summons and complaint, together with all prior pleadings in the action, within twenty (20) days of filing.

The AVOID Act further restricts third-party practice by prohibiting impleaders after the filing of a note of issue (subject to limited statutory exceptions, and by barring consolidation motions when severed third-party actions proceed as separate lawsuits). The law applies to cases pending on or after its effective date and takes effect one hundred twenty (120) days after enactment, which places the effective date on April 19, 2026, and excludes third-party summonses and complaints filed and served before that date.