Governor Cuomo Ends Tolling & Suspension of Civil Legal Deadlines as of November 3, 2020

October 07, 2020

The legal community in New York State has been following closely Governor Cuomo’s ongoing series of Executive Orders since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, tolling statutes of limitations and other civil legal deadlines. In the latest Executive Order, No. 202.67, dated October 4, 2020, the Governor announced that such tolling will end on November 3, 2020.

New York, N.Y. (October 7, 2020) - The legal community in New York State has been following closely Governor Cuomo’s ongoing series of Executive Orders since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, tolling statutes of limitations and other civil legal deadlines. In the latest Executive Order, No. 202.67, dated October 4, 2020, the Governor announced that such tolling will end on November 3, 2020:

“The suspension in Executive Order 202.8, as modified and extended in subsequent Executive Orders, that tolled any specific time limit for the commencement, filing, or service of any legal action, notice, motion, or other process or proceeding as prescribed by the procedural laws of the state, including but not limited to the criminal procedure law, the family court act, the civil practice law and rules, the court of claims act, the surrogate’s court procedure act, and the uniform court acts, or by any statute, local law, ordinance, order, rule, or regulation, or part thereof, is hereby continued, as modified by prior executive orders, provided however, for any civil case, such suspension is only effective until November 3, 2020, and after such date any such time limit will no longer be tolled …”

This is momentous news for the legal and insurance industries. Now that the Governor has announced an end date for the tolling of civil and legal deadlines, attorneys statewide have been placed on notice that they will soon no longer be able to take advantage of the generous tolling these Executive Orders provided during the pandemic. 

If you have any questions about this or previous Executive Orders on this matter, contact the author or editor of this alert. Visit our National Trial and Appellate Practice pages to learn more about our Trial & Appellate Team.

Author:

Nicholas P. Hurzeler, Partner

Editor:

Gregory S. Katz, Managing Partner - New York, NY