BILL NUMBER: S9138
SPONSOR: PALUMBO
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act relating to a death benefit option for the beneficiary of justice
Jerry Garguilo
 
PURPOSE:
To provide support for the family of Judge Garguilo relating to death
benefit options.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This legislation provides the beneficiary of Judge Jerry Garguilo an
option on how to receive death benefits.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Justice Garguilo was a long-serving Justice of the New York Supreme
Court, holding several important administrative roles, including service
on the Appellate Term.
On the bench, he was a true titan, overseeing New York State's opioid
litigation, one of the largest mass tort cases in the State's history.
As the coordinating judge, Garguilo was instrumental in guiding the
litigation process, ensuring that the cases were handled efficiently and
fairly.
A coordinated proceeding is one where cases throughout the State are
transferred from their venue of origin to another court to be presided
over by a single judge (the "Coordinating Court"). Uniformity is the
goal in that the Coordinating Court decides all substantive and proce-
dural issues as opposed to having potentially differing and conflicting
rulings from multiple venues.
Under his leadership, the opioid litigation in New York became a land-
mark case, drawing national attention as it sought to hold pharmaceu-
tical companies accountable for their role in the opioid epidemic. His
successful management of the coordinated proceeding was seen as a model
for handling similar mass tort cases.
This historic litigation involved 62 counties, 10 cities including New
York, more than 67 smaller municipal corporations (townships, villages
and the like) and eventually the State of New York. The named defendants
included manufacturers, distributors and large retail pharmacies.
In total forty (40) defendants were named. Participating lawyers during
both pre-trial and trial, at times exceeded 100, either in person or
remotely. No traditional court facility could accommodate the volume and
eventually the auditorium at Touro Law School was converted into a
courtroom to accommodate the enormous and complex litigation. The case
also involved 357 motion sequences producing over 350 written decisions
and/or directives.