A federal appeals court has vacated a $17.5 million settlement, including nearly $5.8 million in attorney fees, in a class suit against Sprint Nextel over illegal service contract termination fees.

The trial judge prematurely determined that giving notice to unidentified class members would be too burdensome a process, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said June 29 in Larson v. Sprint Nextel Corp., 10-1285/1477/1486/1587.