On Oct. 6, 2020, New York Law Journal published an article by Judge Thomas F. Whelan, “Executive Orders: A Suspension, Not a Toll of the SOL,” arguing that Governor Andrew M. Cuomo lacked authority under Section 29-a of Executive Law to issue Executive Order 202.8 tolling the statute of limitations or other time limits during the COVID-19 pandemic, and therefore the word “toll” in the governor’s executive order 202.8 should be construed as an extension of time.

If the article is correct, any deadline in a civil matter that falls between March 20, 2020 and Nov. 2, 2020, must be complied with by Nov. 3, 2020. The article disagreed with the previously published articles in New York Law Journal, to wit, Thomas A. Moore and Matthew Gaier, Medical Malpractice, “Toll on Statute of Limitations During COVID-19 Emergency,” NYLJ, June 1, 2020; Patrick M. Connors, New York Practice, “The COVID-19 Toll: Time Period and the Courts During Pandemic,” NYLJ, July 17, 2020.