Checking for empty or null List

Try the following code:

 if ( (myList!= null) && (!myList.Any()) )
 {
     // Add new item
     myList.Add("new item"); 
 }

A late EDIT because for these checks I now like to use the following solution.
First, add a small reusable extension method called Safe():

public static class IEnumerableExtension
{       
    public static IEnumerable<T> Safe<T>(this IEnumerable<T> source)
    {
        if (source == null)
        {
            yield break;
        }

        foreach (var item in source)
        {
            yield return item;
        }
    }
}

And then, you can do the same like:

 if (!myList.Safe().Any())
 {
      // Add new item
      myList.Add("new item"); 
 }

I personally find this less verbose and easier to read. You can now safely access any collection without the need for a null check.

And another EDIT, which doesn’t require an extension method, but uses the ? (Null-conditional) operator (C# 6.0):

if (!(myList?.Any() ?? false))
{
    // Add new item
    myList.Add("new item"); 
}