Last year was a big one for high-dollar settlements in securities class actions—and for the plaintiffs lawyers representing investors, who took in nearly $1 billion in legal fees and expenses in connection with settlements finalized in 2016.

Settlements in 13 securities class actions that came to points of resolution in 2016 made it onto an annual list of the top 100 securities settlements of all time, according to a report released on June 14 by Securities Class Action Services, a division of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. That's a record, ISS said, “resulting in the largest approved settlement fund of any single year.”

In all, the 13 settlements that made the ISS top 100 list in 2016 add up to about $5.6 billion, with an average of $431.4 million. And according to an analysis by The American Lawyer based on court records, plaintiffs firms involved in those deals came away with fees and expenses totaling about $999.8 million, with an average fee and expense award of $76.9 million. (See the table for a full breakdown of the 2016 entrants onto the ISS list.)