3M Lawyer Lands Among Highest Paid After 23 Years at Company

Kevin Rhodes, 3M Co.’s chief legal affairs officer, is reaping the benefits of company efforts to overhaul its business by becoming one of the conglomerate’s top paid executives.

Rhodes received more than $6.7 million in total compensation last year, making him for the first time one of 3M’s five highest-paid executives, the Maplewood, Minnesota-based company said in a proxy filing.

He earned almost $1.7 million in cash, including a base salary boosted to $887,400, and more than $3.8 million in stock awards during 2023, 3M said.

Rhodes, a former intellectual property litigator at Kirkland & Ellis, initially joined 3M in 2001. During his time at the company he’s served as a deputy general counsel and chief IP counsel.

He moved into 3M’s top legal role in early 2022 after predecessor Ivan Fong took the general counsel job at Medtronic PLC. That same year 3M said it would conduct a tax-free spin-off of its $45 billion health care business after putting Aearo Technologies LLC, its troubled combat earplug unit, into bankruptcy.

Rhodes led “in-house and external legal efforts” to resolve the combat arms earplug litigation and other multidistrict litigation related to so-called forever chemicals in municipal water systems, 3M said in its proxy. He also “delivered on spending commitments” for the legal department and aided the pending spin-off of 3M’s health care unit.

The separation of that business, which as of next month will be called Solventum Corp., was recently approved by 3M’s board. Solventum has hired Marcela Kirberger, a former top lawyer at Elanco Animal Health Inc., to be its new legal chief. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is advising 3M on its separation plan.

Kirkland & Ellis and White & Case took the lead on Aearo’s Chapter 11 case. The latter was tossed out of court last year, leading 3M to resolve Aearo’s mass tort claims via a $6 billion settlement that moved closer to completion this month.

Public records show that 3M also paid $240,000 last year to Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr for the law firm to lobby on “chemical regulations.”

The company’s tab for cleaning up forever chemicals has been estimated at roughly $143 billion, although 3M has offered to settle those claims for between $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion to avoid bankruptcy.

Lawyers have left 3M, known for making everything from Post-Its to car parts and medical products, as it shed some 8,500 jobs in a corporate restructuring.

Laura Hammargren, an assistant general counsel and director for enterprise risk management and litigation, joined Greenberg Traurig as a partner in October. That same month Eaton PLC hired former 3M deputy general counsel Amy Sanders as a deputy chief legal officer for global operations.