Abuse of Discretion Class Action Certification.

Byline: Derek Hawkins

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Archie Beaton v. SpeedyPC Software, et al.

Case No.: 18-1010

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and SYKES and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Abuse of Discretion Class Action Certification

When Archie Beaton's laptop started misbehaving, he looked for an at-home fix. An internet search turned up a product from SpeedyPC Software ("Speedy") that offered both a diagnosis and a cure. Beaton took advantage of Speedy's free trial, which warned that his device was in bad shape and encouraged him to purchase its software solution: SpeedyPC Pro. He did. But he was disappointed with the outcome: despite Speedy's promises, the software failed to improve his laptop's performance.

Beaton became convinced that he was the victim of a scam. He filed a consumer class action against Speedy, raising both contract and tort theories. The district court certified a nationwide class and an Illinois subclass of software purchasers. Hoping to dodge the consumer class action, Speedy turned to...