While employers across America paid a record amount in settlements for workplace violations last year, don't expect it to be the beginning of a trend. Think of it more as the storm before the calm, as labor lawyers rush to lock in payouts ahead of a shifting legal landscape.

Settlements from the 10 biggest class-action lawsuits reached a record $2.72 billion in 2017, the highest amount since the law firm Seyfarth Shaw began cataloging litigation accords in 2003. Cases filed by federal agencies empowered to sue over discrimination and hour, wage, and safety violations were among the most prominent in a litigation sector also filled with private practitioners seeking to recover damages on behalf of employees.

"The government litigated more cases, filed more cases, and got higher settlement values for those cases in 2017 than at any time in the last decade," said Gerald Maatman, Jr., co-chair of the class action defense group at Seyfarth Shaw, which represents companies. But the reasons behind those record numbers map out a darkening horizon for labor litigators and workplace rights advocates.