Key Takeaways:

• Accelerated Deadlines – Impleader rights now expire quickly: 60 days for initial defendants, then 45, 30, and 20 days for successive levels, with a hard 12-month cap absent consent

• Strict Cutoffs – No impleaders after the note of issue; late filings are severed and barred from consolidation

• Limited Exceptions – Only narrow carve-outs for employer liability in grave injury cases or unknown identity, allowing 120 days post-discovery

• Strategic Impact – Early coordination and rapid indemnity decisions are essential; carriers must implement expedited review protocols and integrate statutory timelines into claims systems

In December 2025, Gov. Hochul signed into law S.8071‑A, known as the “Avoiding Vexatious Overuse of Impleading to Delay (AVOID) Act.” This law amends CPLR § 1007 to establish strict time limits for impleading third‑party defendants in civil actions. The purpose of the law is to prevent strategic delays in litigation by ensuring impleaders occur early in civil proceedings.

The AVOID Act significantly compresses litigation timelines. Under the new rules, defendants and third-party defendants must implead potential parties early in the process or risk losing the ability to do so entirely. Missing these deadlines could eliminate a key defense strategy and increase exposure for the original defendant.

The law introduces several key changes. An initial defendant must file and serve a third-party complaint within 60 days after serving an answer. A second-level impleader has 45 days, a third-level impleader has 30 days, and any additional levels have only 20 days. There is a 12-month cap on impleading without written consent from both the plaintiff and the court. No third-party filings are permitted after a note of issue is filed, and any late filings will be severed or dismissed without prejudice. The law also provides a narrow exception for claims against a plaintiff’s employer in cases of grave injury or where the employer’s identity was unknown, allowing impleader within 120 days of discovery or the triggering event. Finally, the act includes an anti-consolidation rule, prohibiting severed third-party actions from being consolidated back into the main case.

These changes eliminate the previous flexibility to negotiate assumption of defense or secure agreements for excess carriers after initial pleadings. Thus, early coordination with defense counsel is critical to identify potential third-party targets and confirm whether any contractual indemnity obligations exist.

Next Steps for Carriers

Carriers should immediately implement internal protocols that ensure indemnity decisions are made within the first few weeks after the Answer is served on behalf of the insured. Likewise, carriers must accelerate their review of additional insureds, and contractual liability provisions to avoid missing the new impleader deadlines. We suggest carriers establish expedited approval processes for indemnity decisions, integrate statutory deadlines into their claims management systems, train claims teams to ensure timely compliance, and audit active cases now for potential impleaders.

Clear communication, prompt decision making, and close coordination among defense counsel, primary carriers, and excess carriers are essential to successfully navigate the emerging legal challenges introduced by this new law. Goldberg Segalla can assist by providing timeline trackers and exposure assessments, and drafting extension motions where appropriate. For further guidance please contact:

• Joseph A. Oliva
• Emilio F. Grillo
• Jessica M. Erickson
• Ryan C. Mahoney
• Petra A. Holness
• Gabrielle M. Breen
• Or another member of the Construction Litigation and Counsel or Civil Litigation and Trial practice groups