2011 was a good year for plaintiffs firms that specialize in securities class actions.
According to an annual report produced by Institutional Shareholders Services Inc.’s Securities Class Action Services, the top law firms involved in securities class actions landed bigger settlements last year than they did in 2010.
New York-based Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann raked in the most, garnering $1.37 billion for investors through settlements with Wells Fargo, WellCare Health Plans and Washington Mutual. The amount is 37 percent greater than what the firm secured in 2011. In second place was Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, which reaped $1.14 billion for investors, followed by Labaton Sucharow, which secured $1.04 billion.
The larger settlements are partly due to the fact that the three aforementioned firms accounted for more than half of all securities class action settlements in 2011. Additionally, the bigger settlements led to bigger payouts for the firms. Bernstein Litowitz earned nearly $300 million in attorneys’ fees in the 13 cases in which it settled as lead or co-lead counsel in 2011.
Click here to download the report.
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