Important Statute of Limitations Considerations for Fraud and Other Commercial Claims

Publication Source: Legal Brief

This article addresses some important issues relating to the statute of limitations that impact commercial claims and causes of action.

The Covid-19 Toll

First, recall that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, then-Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.8 on March 20, 2020 temporarily relieving parties of filing deadlines. That engendered some debate as to whether the Order constituted a “toll” or simply a “suspension” of the statute of limitations periods. A toll removes the period encompassed within the Order from the calculation of the statute, while a suspension would just hold off any filing deadlines until the Order expired, which was November 3, 2020. Most courts found it was a toll, while there were pockets of decisions with the opposite holding.

With little fanfare and no other citations or analysis, on March 19, 2024 the New York Court of Appeals definitively recognized that Executive Order 202.8 constituted a toll of the statute of limitations.

Read the full article in the Spring 2024 edition of the Legal Brief here.

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The Legal Brief is the official publication of the Suffolk County Bar Association, www.scba.org.