‍AG James: We Must Preserve New Yorkers’ Right to Seek Justice‍

NEW YORK — Attorney General Letitia James today called for the tolling, or pausing and extending for a certain amount of time, of statute of limitations in New York as the state and residents take significant action to respond to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19):

“People should not be forced to choose between exercising their legal rights and jeopardizing their health. Right now, New Yorkers are faced with such a predicament — either they ignore calls for social distancing in order to submit documents to a court by a fixed deadline, or they abandon their right to seek justice through the judiciary all together. It is imperative that as we respond to the global pandemic, we also preserve the legal interests and rights of all New Yorkers. To do so, we are calling for the statute of limitations to be tolled, effectively pausing the statute of limitations during this time.”