2022 Attorneys of the Year: Megan L. Odom and Michael A. Sacchet.

Byline: Dan Emerson

[dropcap]H[/dropcap]earing loss is the most common service-related disability for men and women in the military.

In 2022, Ciresi Conlin partner Michael Sacchet and associate Megan Odom secured the largest consolidated-plaintiff verdict ($110 million), and the largest single-plaintiff verdict ($77.5 million) in the 3M Earplugs Multidistrict Litigation (MDL).

It was the largest mass tort in American history, totaling nearly $200 million in verdicts for veterans in one year.

The case began in 2016, when a United States whistleblower lawsuit brought against 3M alleged that the company manufactured and knowingly sold the defective earplugs to service members. Sacchet, a partner in Ceresi Conlin's mass tort group, was appointed to the plaintiffs' leadership committee to help run the case on behalf of more than 200,000 plaintiffs.

After three bellwether trial wins in 2021, the plaintiffs' leadership nominated Sacchet to serve as co-lead trial counsel in Sloan/Wayman v. 3M Co., the most important MDL trial.

During the four-week trial, Sacchet conducted key direct and cross examinations of case-dispositive witnesses, and Odom handled oral argument and defeated 3M's defenses on directed verdict. The jury awarded the two veterans $110 million in damages for hearing loss and tinnitus.

A few months after that verdict, plaintiffs' leadership again nominated Sacchet to serve as co-lead trial counsel in Beal v. 3M Co., the final MDL...