The AVOID Act: annotated text of CPLR § 1007

This subdivision preserves the general right to implead but now makes that right expressly subject to the time limitations set forth in this section. The phrase "subject to the time limitations set forth in this section" was added by the AVOID Act to make clear that the deadlines in subdivisions (b) through (e) govern all third-party filings.

This is the core rule of the AVOID Act. A defendant has 90 calendar days from serving its answer to file any third-party summons and complaint as of right. There is no distinction between contractual and non-contractual claims. After 90 days, a court order is required. The chapter amendments replaced the original bill’s tiered structure with this single unified deadline.

Once the note of issue is filed, filing a third-party complaint is not automatically barred but requires a showing of good cause or that the interest of justice requires it. This is a significant gatekeeping rule: defendants who miss the 90-day window and have not yet filed a note of issue may still seek a court order, but post-note-of-issue filings face the higher good-cause standard.

This subdivision specifies the remedy for a filing that violates the time limitations in subdivisions (b), (c), and (e): the action shall be severed or dismissed without prejudice. Severance separates the third-party action from the main case; per § 1007(f), a severed action may not thereafter be consolidated with the main action, so severance functions as a near-permanent procedural separation. Dismissal without prejudice leaves the underlying claim intact to be refiled as an independent action, subject to the applicable statute of limitations.

The employer exception preserves access to the WCL § 11 grave injury claim, which is critical in Labor Law construction cases. The 90-day window is measured from whichever triggering event occurs later: learning of the employer’s identity, or learning of the grave injury. Because both facts are often confirmed through investigation and medical records, this provision requires active case monitoring from the date of service. Note that the window is 90 days, identical to the standard deadline in subdivision (b).

Once severed, always severed. This provision closes a potential loophole by which a defendant might delay filing, accept severance, and then seek reconsolidation to avoid the practical impact of the deadline. The consolidation ban is permanent and unconditional.