Abuse of Discretion – Class Action Certification

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7^th 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 this court for relief. See FED. R. CIV. P. 23(f). Because we find no abuse of discretion in the district court’s certification orders, we affirm.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.