A panel of judges tasked with coordinating major litigation in New York on Monday ordered that opioid litigation in the state should be assigned to a coordinating judge in Westchester County while the Suffolk County judge previously assigned to oversee opioid litigation continues to handle matters related to the 2021 bellwether opioid trial held on Long Island.

The Litigation Coordinating Panel in 2017 ordered that litigation involving an array of opioid manufacturers and distributors should be coordinated before a Suffolk County judge, later designated as Supreme Court Justice Jerry Garguilo, who presided over the 2021 trial after several delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic.