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AVOID Act articles and guides

Explainers, compliance guides, industry analysis, and operational playbooks for professionals navigating New York's new third-party practice deadlines.

Compliance

The 60-day clock: investigating third-party liability fast

What the AVOID Act's 60-day deadline means for non-contractual third-party claims, how the 'becoming aware' standard works, and how to investigate fast enough to meet it.

April 14, 20266 min read
Explainer

AVOID Act deadlines: every timeline you need to know

A comprehensive reference for every deadline under the AVOID Act: the 60-day, 90-day, 120-day, 30-day extension, and 12-month hard cap rules, with practical guidance for each.

April 14, 20266 min read
Explainer

AVOID Act FAQ: 15 questions defendants are asking

Answers to the 15 most common questions about the AVOID Act: deadlines, claim types, the note-of-issue bar, extensions, pending cases, and what to do immediately after being served.

April 14, 202610 min read
Analysis

What Does 'Becoming Aware' Mean Under the AVOID Act?

The AVOID Act's 60-day deadline for non-contractual third-party claims runs from when a defendant 'becomes aware' that a third party may be liable. That phrase is undefined, and its interpretation will determine whether the deadline works as intended.

April 14, 20268 min read
Explainer

The AVOID Act chapter amendments: what changed and why

A detailed account of the chapter amendments to the original AVOID Act: the extension of the contractual deadline to 90 days, clarifications to the employer exception, and what the defense bar argued for.

April 14, 20266 min read
Operations

Certificate of Insurance Tracking: Why Spreadsheets Are a Liability

Under AVOID Act deadline pressure, manual COI tracking fails in three ways: expiration monitoring, endorsement verification, and real-time coverage confirmation. Here is what automated verification actually solves.

April 14, 20268 min read
Compliance

The AVOID Act compliance checklist: 10 steps to take now

A 10-step compliance checklist for construction professionals, insurers, and risk managers preparing their organizations for the AVOID Act's strict impleader deadlines.

April 14, 20269 min read
Analysis

The Consolidation Ban: Why Severed Third-Party Actions Cannot Reunite

The AVOID Act prohibits consolidating severed third-party actions back into the main case. This article examines what that means for defendants, the policy rationale behind the rule, and the practical consequences for litigation strategy.

April 14, 20266 min read
Analysis

Will the AVOID Act Survive Constitutional Challenge?

An analysis of the constitutional arguments defendants may raise against the AVOID Act: due process, separation of powers, and the right to apportion liability, and how New York courts are likely to evaluate them.

April 14, 20268 min read
Construction

How the AVOID Act Reshapes Construction Litigation in New York

The AVOID Act's impact on Labor Law 240 and 241 cases and the new urgency around contract and insurance documentation for general contractors and property owners.

April 14, 202610 min read
Compliance

Contract audit playbook: reviewing indemnification in 5 days

A five-day methodology for auditing subcontractor indemnification and insurance-procurement clauses under pressure from the AVOID Act's 90-day impleader deadline.

April 14, 20268 min read
Explainer

CPLR § 1007 before and after the AVOID Act

A narrative account of how CPLR § 1007 changed under the AVOID Act: what the old impleader rule allowed, what the new version requires, and why the legislature acted.

April 14, 20265 min read
Analysis

Early Case Law: Tracking the First AVOID Act Decisions

The AVOID Act took effect on April 18, 2026, and case law is still developing. This article identifies the legal questions courts will resolve first and how practitioners can track the interpretive landscape as it emerges.

April 14, 20265 min read
Explainer

The employer exception: grave injury and the 120-day rule

How the AVOID Act's employer exception works: the 120-day window for grave injury cases under WCL § 11, when the clock starts, and what general contractors must do to preserve their impleader rights.

April 14, 20266 min read
Analysis

AVOID Act vs. Federal Practice: Impleader in SDNY and EDNY

When a New York construction case proceeds in federal court, the AVOID Act does not apply. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 14 governs impleader in SDNY and EDNY. Understanding the differences matters for defendants, insurers, and counsel navigating removal and forum strategy.

April 14, 20266 min read
Operations

5 Things Every GC Should Have Ready Before Getting Served

When you are served with a Labor Law claim, the 90-day AVOID Act clock starts immediately. These five preparation points determine whether your risk-transfer rights survive that deadline.

April 14, 20266 min read
Operations

The Hidden Cost of Non-Compliance: When Insurance Doesn't Match the Contract

The gap between what a subcontract requires and what a subcontractor's policy actually provides is common, consequential, and now operationally urgent under the AVOID Act's 90-day impleader deadlines.

April 14, 20266 min read
Bonus

A history of third-party practice in New York

How impleader evolved in New York from common-law roots through the 1962 CPLR to the AVOID Act, and why decades of procedural permissiveness finally gave way to hard deadlines.

April 14, 20268 min read
Insurance

What the AVOID Act Means for Insurance Carriers and Claims Teams

How the AVOID Act's strict impleader deadlines change the workflow for insurance carriers managing construction and premises liability claims in New York.

April 14, 20268 min read
Bonus

Other states with impleader deadlines: how New York compares

How New York's AVOID Act compares to federal impleader practice under FRCP 14 and to the range of approaches other states take, from open-ended permissiveness to defined deadlines.

April 14, 20266 min read
Bonus

The plaintiff's bar perspective: why they wanted the AVOID Act

How the plaintiffs' bar built the case for AVOID Act reform, what delay tactics they documented, and how defense-bar counter-arguments shaped the final statute.

April 14, 20265 min read
Compliance

Pre-litigation risk transfer: the new standard

How the AVOID Act has redefined pre-litigation risk transfer in New York construction and real estate, and what contract and COI practices now constitute the minimum standard of care.

April 14, 20268 min read
Real Estate

The AVOID Act and Real Estate: Premises Liability Defense Gets Harder

How the AVOID Act changes premises liability defense for property owners, landlords, and real estate operators in New York. Vendor contracts and contractor chain liability under strict impleader deadlines.

April 14, 20266 min read
Compliance

Building an AVOID Act response playbook for your legal team

How to build a first-48-hour response playbook that protects your impleader rights under the AVOID Act, with defined roles, handoffs, and escalation triggers.

April 14, 20268 min read
Operations

Why Most GCs Can't Find Their Sub Contracts When It Matters

The AVOID Act's 90-day impleader deadline has exposed a structural problem: most general contractors cannot retrieve a specific subcontract within 48 hours of being served. Here is why, and how to fix it.

April 14, 20266 min read
Transportation

Transportation and Fleet Operators: AVOID Act Considerations

How the AVOID Act affects transportation companies, fleet operators, and logistics firms facing third-party liability in New York. The 60-day non-contractual clock and what to do about it.

April 14, 20265 min read
Operations

Vendor Compliance in the Age of the AVOID Act

The AVOID Act has reframed vendor onboarding and ongoing compliance as pre-litigation risk transfer. Here is what the new documentation standard looks like and how to build a workflow that meets it.

April 14, 20268 min read
Explainer

What is the AVOID Act? A plain-English guide

A plain-English guide to the AVOID Act: New York's rewrite of CPLR § 1007 that imposes hard deadlines on third-party practice in construction and premises cases.

April 14, 20268 min read

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