NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ )

said on Friday it is negotiating with plaintiffs' lawyers who

have opposed the company's proposed settlement of lawsuits

alleging its baby powder and other talc products caused cancer,

seeking to eliminate holdouts to the deal.

J&J has announced plans to finalize a $6.48 billion global

settlement through the bankruptcy of a subsidiary company, after

earlier efforts were rebuffed twice by federal courts.

J&J says the majority of claimants support its settlement

offer. But it has paused a vote count for a short time so that

it can gather additional votes from plaintiffs who have until

recently opposed the deal.

"We have agreed to a short extension of the certification

timeline," said Erik Haas, J&J's worldwide vice president of

litigation, in a statement. "This will allow these plaintiffs'

attorneys time to speak to their claimants to now consider

supporting the plan."

A lawyer at Beasley Allen, a law firm that has led

opposition to J&J's proposed bankruptcy settlement, did not

immediately respond to a request for comment.

J&J plans to place a subsidiary into bankruptcy if it gets

at least 75% of the talc claimants to vote for its settlement

proposal.

The bankruptcy settlement would end all talc lawsuits

alleging that J&J products cause ovarian cancer, and it would

prevent similar cases from being filed in the future.

J&J faces lawsuits from more than 62,000 plaintiffs alleging

that its baby powder and other talc products were contaminated

with asbestos and caused ovarian and other cancers. J&J denies

the allegations and has said that its products are safe, do not

contain asbestos and do not cause cancer.

The current proposed settlement focuses on ovarian cancer

claims, building on the company's previous settlement of most

lawsuits alleging that its talc caused mesothelioma, a deadly

cancer linked to asbestos exposure.

By using a subsidiary's bankruptcy to file for bankruptcy,

J&J seeks to force all plaintiffs into one settlement - without

requiring J&J itself to file bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy judges can enforce global settlements that

permanently halt all related lawsuits and forbid new ones.

Outside of bankruptcy, any settlement J&J reached with some

clients would still leave holdouts or future plaintiffs with the

right to sue - and leave the company exposed to potential

multibillion-dollar verdicts that encouraged it to pursue a

bankruptcy settlement in the first place.

J&J has prevailed in many of the ovarian cases tried to

date, but the litigation has also resulted in some large

verdicts for plaintiffs, including a $2.12 billion award in

favor of 22 women who blamed their ovarian cancer on asbestos in

J&J talc.