Be careful what you sign

Wouldn't you think that a professional firm with a national presence who presents a contract for self-employed services would have a reasonable contract with terms you could live up to?

They contacted me after I visited their booth at a professional trade show.  I should have known better. They said they had clients who wanted QuickBooks consulting. They promised work. I provided them information about me, and invested probably at least a half day updating my information to their specifications and providing a resume on their website.

Then they called me in for an interview. This took another half day, and I paid for downtown parking. Once there, a discussion ensued about how since I was in public practice, I would be treated as self-employed. I was presented with their 'boiler-plate' contract, about five pages of it, and told to sign. 

I don't sign five page contracts without reading and understanding and thinking about them. As I'm insured through my practice, and have my own tools and equipment, and work from a home online, it seemed reasonable I would be self-employed. But there was this challenge, how would I ensure they and their clients agreed to privacy, and Proceeds of Crime & Terrorist Financing clauses in my engagement letter? And they wanted me to give notice, two weeks notice, and in public practice, if you stop working for a client because of ethical reasons, you don't give notice, you walk away. I forwarded them what I would expect their clients would agree to. No response.

Then I read the requirements of their contract. One section in particular stopped me in my tracks. They expected me to make them and their clients 'named insured' on my policy and for me to obtain a waiver of subrogation. This bothered me, because I wasn't sure it was even possible for me to do that. I contacted the insurance company and was just informed, no, it's not possible.

I called them back, and said that if we were to work together, it would have to be on an employment basis, where they assumed the risk. Guess what? Silence.

I'm not a lawyer but, common sense tells me if you sign a contract promising something you can't deliver, that contract isn't going to be valid and enforceable. If anything went wrong, you'd be personally liable because you promised something it was impossible to deliver.

Moral of the story? Don't make promises you can't keep. Be careful what you sign. Read and understand that what you agree to provide must be possible.

And, if you are self-employed, it really isn't likely a personnel agency will be willing to live with a public practitioners terms of engagement, and vice-versa. Once burned, twice shy.