July 14, 2026
The AVOID Act amends CPLR §1007, which has been the governing law for third-party practice impleaders since 1963. Prior to the adoption of the AVOID Act, CPLR §1007 had no fixed deadlines for adding third parties to an existing lawsuit. However, courts and litigators have always had an effective tool to manage late impleaders in CPLR §1010, which gives a judge the ability and discretion to dismiss a third-party Complaint or order a separate trial. This law replaces that discretion with draconian deadlines that present a threat to a defendant's ability to fully defend itself by interposing informed impleaders based on facts and potential evidence adduced during discovery, particularly as regards the risk transfer devices I discuss below.
