As a parent, St. James resident Jerry Garguilo would tell his children playful tall tales. As a Supreme Court justice in the New York State courts, he would lighten the mood of tense trials with a witticism or a quip.

But, in 2021, when he presided over New York's landmark litigation resulting in $1.7 billion in settlements with companies that manufactured and distributed opioids, he was the focused and no-nonsense jurist who kept the complex case on track even through a pandemic.

"He’d had a long career as probably one of Long Island's top litigators over the course of his private practice" before being elected to the State Supreme Court in 2009, said District Administrative Judge of Suffolk County Andrew A. Crecca, a colleague and friend. "And so he brought all that skill set and know-

See Full Page