The best lawyer for a Roundup lawsuit is one with verified trial experience against Bayer/Monsanto, the mass-tort resources to carry a complex product-liability case through years of discovery, and a written fee agreement that spells out exactly who will handle the file and how costs come out of any recovery. As of mid-2026, more than 60,000 Roundup cases are still active, a proposed $7.25 billion class settlement is pending final approval, and the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on a case that could reshape the entire litigation. The attorney you choose now will decide how you move through all of it.
What to Look For in a Roundup Attorney
Roundup cases allege that glyphosate-based herbicides cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Proving one requires showing both that a specific plaintiff was exposed and that the exposure caused their cancer, which means medical experts, toxicologists, and sometimes agricultural or occupational specialists. A general personal-injury lawyer without mass-tort experience is poorly equipped for this work.
A few things separate strong candidates from the rest:
- Real trial experience against Bayer/Monsanto. Firms that have actually tried Roundup cases and won jury verdicts carry leverage that case-collecting firms do not. The early trial wins forced Bayer to the settlement table, and the credible threat of more verdicts is what keeps negotiations moving.
- Mass-tort resources. Roundup cases are consolidated in multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741) in federal court and in coordinated proceedings in several state courts. A firm needs the staffing and the financial depth to manage discovery, retain expert witnesses, and push a case through crowded dockets.
- Direct case handling. Some firms sign up clients and then refer the cases out, sometimes through paid case-sharing arrangements. Confirm which lawyer will be responsible for your file and whether it will be passed to less experienced staff or an entirely different firm.
- Fee transparency. Almost every Roundup attorney works on contingency, but the percentage and the way costs are handled vary a lot. Those details change what you actually take home.
Firms With Court-Recognized Roles and Verified Verdicts
A short list of firms stands out based on court appointments and trial results rather than advertising volume.
In December 2016, the federal court overseeing the Roundup MDL appointed three firms as co-lead counsel: Andrus Wagstaff (now Wagstaff Law Firm), Weitz & Luxenberg, and The Miller Firm. The presiding judge makes these appointments based on qualifications and resources; firms do not pick the role themselves. The same order placed Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman (now Wisner Baum) and several other firms on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee.
Wisner Baum has one of the most visible trial records in the litigation. The firm’s co-lead trial counsel, R. Brent Wisner, helped secure the $289 million jury verdict in Johnson v. Monsanto in August 2018 and the $2.055 billion verdict in Pilliod v. Monsanto in May 2019. Both were later reduced on appeal, to $20.5 million and $87 million respectively, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Bayer’s appeal of the Pilliod judgment in June 2022. The firm reports more than $4 billion in total verdicts and settlements across its practice areas.
The Miller Firm tried the first Roundup lymphoma case in the country and represented three of the four plaintiffs in the earliest trials. It was co-lead counsel in the MDL and secured the $289 million Johnson verdict alongside Wisner Baum. Attorneys Jeffrey Travers and David Dickens were named 2019 Trial Team of the Year by The National Law Journal for their Roundup work. The firm’s founder, Michael J. Miller, who served as co-lead of the MDL, died in November 2021.
Jennifer A. Moore of the Moore Law Group secured the $80 million verdict in Hardeman v. Monsanto, the first federal bellwether trial in the MDL. That amount was upheld at $25 million on appeal, and the Supreme Court denied Bayer’s petition in June 2022. Moore Law Group has stated it is not currently accepting new Roundup cases.
Other firms have won large verdicts in state courts. A Philadelphia jury awarded $2.25 billion in January 2024 in a case tried by a team that included Kline & Specter; a judge later reduced that amount to $404 million. In Georgia, a jury returned a $2 billion verdict that Bayer subsequently settled in November 2025. Firms including Beasley Allen and Simmons Hanly Conroy continue to actively review and file new claims.
Contingency Fees and Costs
Roundup lawyers almost all work on contingency, so you pay no legal fees unless the case recovers money. But contingency is not a single arrangement. The details vary and can meaningfully change your net recovery.
The standard personal-injury contingency fee is around 33% of the recovery. In Roundup cases, fees can range from 25% to 45% depending on when the case resolves. A sliding scale might charge 25% if the case settles before suit is filed, 33% after filing, and 40% or more if it goes to trial. Some fee contracts reviewed in reporting on the litigation have specified a 40% fee on the gross recovery, rising to 45% if the claim resolves as part of an aggregate settlement.
The single most important question to ask is whether the percentage is calculated before or after litigation costs are deducted. Costs in a mass tort — filing fees, expert witnesses, medical-record retrieval, depositions — can be substantial. If the firm takes its percentage off the top and then deducts costs from what’s left, you keep less than you would if costs came out first. The written fee agreement should state this clearly before you sign.
Most firms offer free initial consultations and advance all case costs, so the client owes nothing if the case fails. Some contracts, however, do hold the client responsible for costs even in a loss. Confirm which arrangement you’re being offered.
Advertising Mills and Case Brokers
Roundup has attracted an enormous volume of lawsuit advertising. A Wall Street Journal investigation found that in the first nine months of 2019, Roundup was the subject of more than 650,000 broadcast and cable-TV ads, making it the most heavily advertised product for lawsuit recruitment that year. At one point the cost to recruit a single plaintiff reached $6,000.
Many of the firms running those ads are not the firms that will litigate your case. Some are lead-generation companies that acquire potential clients and then sell or refer the cases to trial firms, sometimes through layered arrangements that add costs and reduce the plaintiff’s share. Lawsuit advertiser Edward Lott described the strategy plainly: aggregate enough plaintiffs to pressure defendants into large global settlements.
Questions to Ask Before You Sign
Before signing a representation agreement, get direct answers to these:
- Will your firm handle my case through resolution, or will it be referred to another firm?
- Who specifically will be my point of contact, and who will be the lead attorney on my file?
- Has your firm tried a Roundup case to verdict, or do you primarily settle?
- What is your contingency percentage, and does it change if the case is filed, tried, or resolved in an aggregate settlement?
- Are litigation costs deducted before or after your fee is calculated?
- If the case is unsuccessful, am I responsible for any costs?
Those questions separate firms with genuine litigation capability from those functioning as marketing operations.
Why Timing Matters in 2026
Two developments are unfolding at once, and both affect how any new case will be handled.
The $7.25 Billion Proposed Class Settlement
On February 17, 2026, Bayer announced a proposed nationwide class settlement to resolve current and future Roundup cancer claims. The deal would fund declining capped annual payments over up to 21 years, totaling $7.25 billion. Individual payouts are estimated between $6,000 and $165,000, tiered by exposure type, age at diagnosis, and cancer severity. A Missouri circuit court granted preliminary approval in March 2026, with a final fairness hearing scheduled for July 9, 2026.
The deal has drawn sharp opposition. A group of 14 law firms representing roughly 20,000 claimants objected that they were excluded from negotiations and given inadequate time to review the terms. On May 21, 2026, attorney Ashley Keller filed constitutional objections arguing the deal violates due process by binding millions of people who have not yet developed cancer, including children and the unborn, to an agreement that is “comically difficult” to opt out of. Keller’s filing described the arrangement as a “sweetheart deal” that would award $675 million in fees to class counsel while leaving cancer victims with limited compensation. Federal Judge Vince Chhabria, who oversees the Roundup MDL, had previously described a similar proposal as “filthy” and “legally problematic.” The opt-out deadline passed on June 4, 2026, and more than 100 class members and a dozen health-care companies filed objections.
Which firm you hire affects where you end up in all of this. Firms with trial experience and MDL leadership roles are positioned to litigate individually or to push back on settlement terms; firms built around volume intake may simply route clients into the class deal.
The Supreme Court Case on Preemption
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on April 27, 2026, in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, a case that could decide whether federal pesticide labeling law preempts state-level failure-to-warn claims. If the Court rules for Bayer, it could effectively block the legal theory underlying most Roundup lawsuits. A ruling is expected by the end of June 2026. Bayer sees a favorable ruling as a reason plaintiffs should accept the class settlement rather than risk their claims; plaintiffs’ attorneys argue the settlement was designed to exploit that very uncertainty.
Who Can File a Roundup Claim
Despite the proposed class settlement, new Roundup lawsuits continue to be filed. To qualify, a plaintiff generally must show:
- Exposure to Roundup through long-term use in farming, landscaping, commercial groundskeeping, or residential gardening. Some claims require documented proof of at least 40 hours of use; one firm involved in the settlement specified thresholds of 80 hours for occupational claims or 16 hours for residential use.
- A qualifying cancer diagnosis. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is the primary diagnosis, but related subtypes also qualify, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and mantle cell lymphoma, among others.
- No prior settlement release. Plaintiffs who previously settled Roundup claims cannot file again.
Wrongful-death claims are available when someone exposed to Roundup has died from a qualifying cancer. Surviving spouses or children can typically bring these claims, which may seek compensation for final medical expenses, funeral costs, lost income, and loss of companionship. Statutes of limitations for wrongful death vary by state and run from the date of death.
Filing deadlines for personal claims are also state-specific and can be as short as one year from the date of diagnosis. Many states apply a discovery rule that starts the clock when the plaintiff learns their cancer may be connected to Roundup rather than the date of first exposure. Because those deadlines are strict and vary widely, the practical move after a qualifying diagnosis is to talk to a qualified Roundup attorney quickly, confirm your filing window, and get the written fee agreement in hand before anything else moves.