STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          3258
 
                               2003-2004 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                     March 21, 2003
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sen. VELELLA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
 
        AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in  relation  to  when
          third-party practice is allowed
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Section 1007 of  the  civil  practice  law  and  rules,  as
     2  amended  by  chapter  216  of  the  laws  of 1992, is amended to read as
     3  follows:
     4    § 1007. When third-party practice allowed. After the service of  [his]
     5  the  answer  but no later than ninety days after the completion of exam-
     6  inations before trial of the original  parties  to  the  action,  unless
     7  consented  to  by the parties or, upon written application of any of the
     8  original parties, the court, in its discretion, extends  such  time  for
     9  good cause, a defendant may [proceed against a person not a party who is
    10  or  may  be  liable to that defendant for all or part of the plaintiff's
    11  claim against that defendant,] implead a third party by filing  pursuant
    12  to  section three hundred four of this chapter a third-party summons and
    13  complaint with the clerk of the court in the county in  which  the  main
    14  action is pending, for which a separate index number shall not be issued
    15  but  a  separate  index  number  fee shall be collected. The third-party
    16  summons and complaint and all prior pleadings served in the action shall
    17  be served upon such person within one hundred twenty days of the filing.
    18  A defendant serving a third-party complaint shall be styled a third-par-
    19  ty plaintiff and the person so served  shall  be  styled  a  third-party
    20  defendant.  The  defendant  shall  also serve a copy of such third-party
    21  complaint upon the plaintiff's attorney simultaneously upon issuance for
    22  service of the third-party complaint on the third-party defendant.
    23    § 2. This act shall  take  effect  on  the  first  of  September  next
    24  succeeding  the  date  on  which it shall have become a law and shall be
    25  applicable to all actions commenced on and after such date.
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05032-01-3