Building an AVOID Act response playbook for your legal team
The AVOID Act makes the first 48 hours after service the most consequential window in any third-party practice decision. This playbook defines what your team must do immediately after a complaint arrives, who is responsible at each step, and how to assemble the information your attorney needs to evaluate third-party options before the clock runs out.
For the full editorial analysis, see the AVOID Act response playbook article.
Download the compliance checklist PDF for your team
Includes the full 10-step checklist and phase-by-phase guidance.
First 48 hours: triage and escalation
The steps that must happen before anything else. Speed matters here; the trigger date for your AVOID Act deadline may be the date your answer is served, or it may be an earlier awareness date.
Identify the date the complaint was served and who received it
The moment a complaint arrives, document the date of service, the method of service (personal, substituted, mail), and the name and role of the person who received it. This record is the foundation for every subsequent deadline calculation.
Contact outside counsel within 24 hours of service. Under most standard litigation protocols, you have 20 to 30 days to serve an answer, but that window and the AVOID Act window both start from service. Do not wait until the answer deadline to begin evaluating third-party options.
Review the complaint for every potentially liable third party
Before contacting anyone, read the complaint in full and identify: the incident date, the location, the theory of liability, every named defendant, and every project participant referenced (whether named as a defendant or not). Each project participant who may share liability is a potential third-party defendant.
Cross-reference the complaint's factual allegations against your project records. For construction matters, this means the contract, the daily logs, the incident report if one exists, and the safety records for the date of the incident. Your goal is to identify which subcontractors were on site and what work they were performing.
Notify your insurance carrier immediately
Contact your primary CGL carrier within 24 to 48 hours of service. Provide the complaint, the service date, the incident date, and a brief description of the project. Ask your carrier to confirm: the policy number and period, the coverage limits, whether the incident falls within the coverage period, and the carrier's internal timeline for claim evaluation.
Specifically flag the AVOID Act deadlines. Explain that your deadline to file a third-party complaint is 60 to 90 days from serving your answer, and ask who at the carrier will be handling the evaluation of any third-party filing authorization. Get a direct contact name and phone number.
Documentation assembly
Gather the records your attorney needs to evaluate the available third-party claims. The goal is to have a complete package ready before the attorney's initial assessment meeting.
Pull the executed subcontract for every identified potential third-party defendant
Locate and produce the executed subcontract for each subcontractor identified as a potential third-party defendant. Include all amendments, change orders, and project-specific exhibits. If the executed agreement cannot be located, produce the best available version and document the gap.
Flag the indemnification clause and the insurance requirements section in each contract for outside counsel. These two provisions are the first things your attorney will look at to evaluate whether a contractual third-party claim is available and viable.
Gather certificates of insurance and endorsements for each subcontractor
Pull the certificate of insurance on file for each subcontractor involved in the matter. Note the coverage types, policy periods, and limits. Confirm that the certificate shows your organization as an additional insured if the contract requires it.
If any certificate is expired, request a renewal from the subcontractor's broker and ask the broker to confirm whether the underlying policy was in force on the date of the incident. An expired certificate does not necessarily mean the policy lapsed; follow up to get the actual policy status.
Assemble the project documentation package
For the project at issue, compile: the project contract between the general contractor and owner, the project schedule, daily logs for the date of the incident and surrounding period, any incident or safety reports, subcontractor scope-of-work documents, and any communications with the subcontractor about the work that led to the claim.
Also pull any prior claims, notices of defect, or safety violations involving the same subcontractor on the same project. Prior notice to the subcontractor about a hazardous condition strengthens a negligence claim; prior notice to you may create defenses you need to address.
Carrier and counsel coordination
The legal evaluation and authorization process must run in parallel with documentation assembly, not after it. Time spent waiting for sequential approvals is time the AVOID Act clock is consuming.
Schedule an initial assessment meeting with outside counsel within one week of service
The initial assessment meeting should happen within the first week of service, not two or three weeks in. Bring your documentation package (contracts, COIs, project records), the complaint, and the service date. The agenda for this meeting is: confirm the deadline, assess the available third-party claims, and identify any gaps in the record.
At this meeting, ask outside counsel to confirm the claim type classification (contractual vs. non-contractual) and the applicable deadline. Ask what additional information they need to evaluate the viability of a third-party complaint. Set a follow-up deadline for that evaluation, leaving enough time to prepare and file the complaint before the deadline expires.
Establish an escalation matrix for authorization decisions
Write down who in your organization has authority to authorize a third-party complaint, and in what sequence that decision travels. A typical matrix for a large contractor might be: project attorney to in-house counsel to risk manager to CFO for claims above a threshold. For claims below the threshold, project attorney to risk manager.
Share this matrix with outside counsel so they know who to contact and in what order. Also share it with the carrier. When outside counsel is ready to file, the last thing they should need to do is locate the right internal decision-maker from scratch.
Calendar the deadline, extended deadline, and 12-month hard cap on the day you serve your answer
The day you serve your answer is the day you must calendar three dates: the base filing deadline (60 or 90 days), the extended deadline (base plus 30 days, available by party agreement), and the 12-month hard cap. Use the deadline calculator to compute the exact dates based on your answer date and claim type.
Set a reminder 30 days before the base deadline. If a third-party complaint has not been filed by that point, the reminder triggers a status call with outside counsel to confirm: has a decision been made to file or not to file, and if not, what is the plan for the remaining time?
For the full editorial analysis, read the AVOID Act response playbook article. To audit your existing contracts for third-party claim viability, see the contract audit playbook. For a comprehensive organizational readiness checklist, see the compliance checklist guide. To calculate your exact filing deadline, use the deadline calculator.
Stay informed
Get the next 5 checklists we publish
Compliance guides delivered the day they drop.
By subscribing, you agree to receive emails from TheAvoidAct.com. Unsubscribe any time.