3M Taps Big Law Trio to Lighten $33 Billion Liability Load (1)

3M Co. has turned to at least three large law firms for assistance as it faces mounting liabilities from litigation.

The company retained Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to advise it on a tax-free spin-off of its $45 billion health care business by the end of 2023, 3M announced Tuesday. The company will keep a roughly 20% stake in the medical supplies company that it will sell off over time, 3M said in a statement.

White & Case is advising 3M on a bankruptcy proceeding it has initiated for Aearo Technologies LLC, an Indianapolis-based company bought by 3M in ...