By Dietrich Knauth

NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters) - Bayer's proposed $7.25 billion Roundup settlement is facing its first formal objections, after attorneys for 13 cancer patients asked a Missouri court not to approve the deal.

The objectors said in court filings on Thursday that the settlement is a product of "collusion" between Bayer and class action lawyers who stand to receive $675 million in attorneys' fees.

The settlement, proposed in February, seeks to resolve nearly all lawsuits alleging that the company's widely used weedkiller Roundup causes cancer, through a new class action filed in Missouri state court. Judge Timothy Boyer granted preliminary approval in March and is set to consider final approval of the deal in early July.

The German drugmaking and crop science company is facing approximately 65,000 claims in U.S. state and federal courts from plaintiffs who have said they developed non-Hodgkin ​lymphoma and other forms of cancer after using Roundup at home or on the job. Bayer, which acquired Roundup when it purchased Monsanto ​in 2018, has said that decades of studies have shown Roundup's key ingredient glyphosate is safe, and does not ⁠cause cancer.

Chris Seeger, one of the class action lawyers who negotiated the deal, said that the settlement would guarantee compensation at a time when a pending Supreme Court ruling could threaten cancer victims' ability to be paid for their legal claims.

"We welcome the opportunity to answer these objections at the July 9 final fairness hearing and remain confident in this agreement, which is backed by firms representing the vast majority of Roundup claimants,” Seeger said.

A spokesman for Bayer's Monsanto unit said that some objections are common in any nationwide settlement, and that the company remains confident that the settlement will be approved.

The current level of support for the deal is unclear, but other objections are likely to come before the settlement's June 4 opt-out deadline. Robin Greenwald of Weitz & Luxenberg said on Friday that her firm, which represents about 2,000 Roundup clients, intends to file objections for many of those clients.

The objecting plaintiffs in Thursday's filings criticized several aspects of the settlement, saying that the Missouri court does not have the power to bind citizens of other U.S. states and that Bayer's "draconian" procedures for opting out of the settlement are designed to trap people who wish to pursue their lawsuits in court. Cancer patients must provide documents including medical records and a copy of a government-issued photo ID in order to opt out, according to court filings.

The objectors say Bayer and the class action lawyers who negotiated the settlement got what they wanted out of a deal, while trampling the legal rights of cancer victims to get there.

The objections cited comments made by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, who is overseeing thousands of Roundup lawsuits that have been consolidated in federal court.

At an April court hearing, Chhabria said he had "grave concerns" about the legality of the state court settlement and the process by which it was brought to a state court judge for fast-track approval. Chhabria called the process "filthy" after class action lawyers described giving advance notice about the settlement to the state court judge, moving ahead with a first-day hearing in which no one outside the deal was allowed to participate, and receiving preliminary approval of the deal without a further hearing in open court.

While some law firms have opposed the settlement, many law firms with large numbers of Roundup clients have signaled support for the deal. Bayer is looking for a finality in the settlement, and it has said it needs to get buy-in from nearly all of the current plaintiffs before proceeding with the deal.

Bayer ⁠has continued ​to be dogged by Roundup lawsuits after paying about $10 billion in 2020 to settle most of ​the Roundup lawsuits then pending.

The case is King v. Monsanto, City of St. Louis Circuit Court, No. 2622-CC00325

For the objecting plaintiffs: Ashley Keller of Keller Postman LLC and R. Prescott Sifton of Frazer PLC

For Bayer: Elaine Golin, Jeffrey Wintner and Carrie Reilly of Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz; Daniel Nelson and Derek Kraft of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP; James Bennet of Dowd Bennett

Class counsel: Seeger Weiss; Motley Rice; Williams Hart & Boundas; Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel; The ‌Holland Law ⁠Firm; Ketchmark & McCreight.

Read more:

Bayer proposes $7.25 billion plan to settle Roundup cancer cases

US Supreme Court split over ​Bayer's fight against Roundup lawsuits

Federal judge criticizes proposed $7.25 billion Roundup settlement

Bayer's $7.25 billion Roundup settlement gets initial OK from Missouri judge