Computer lawsuits grow

To date the computer industry has been characterized by rapid growth. Right Now, according to Output magazine, there is a booming side to its business that the date-processing industry wishes would go away. Businessmen in increasing numbers are filing damage suits to recover the money they've lost when the computers they installed to solve problems created problems instead.

It is estimated by a leading computer industry consultant that 500 damage claims will be filed against vendors this year and 10 times that number by 1985. Tied to this development is the emergence of a new breed of lawyers who are also computer experts, adept at plugging escape-clause loopholes in contrcts and explaining to juries in plain language the gap between promised computer performance and actual functioning.