Bayer’s Roundup Legal Adviser Known for Fighting, Not Settling (1)

After getting pummeled with more than $2.2 billion in damages in the first three trials over its Roundup weed killer, Bayer AG needs to step it up on defense. Enter John Beisner.

The veteran lawyer who has guided companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co. in their fights against multibillion-dollar product-liability lawsuits was tapped to advise Bayer executives how to up the company’s game against allegations that Roundup causes cancer.

Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer faces claims by more than 13,000 consumers who blame its glyphosate-based herbicide for their cancers and an estimated cost of as much as ...