DRAFTING EFFECTIVE INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR AGREEMENTS

Recent judicial decisions reclassifying ''independent contractors'' as ''employees,'' and imposing liability for employment-related taxes an d benefits, have focused increased attention on the legal parameters o f an independent contractor relationship. These decisions also have ra ised some questions regarding the continued usefulness of independent contractor agreements. As noted in this article, such agreements canno t alone create an independent contractor relationship. Nevertheless, c ompanies can still benefit in several ways from the use of properly dr afted independent contractor agreements. After briefly reviewing those benefits, this article discusses the key provisions that should be in cluded in and omitted from independent contractor agreements in order to maximize the likelihood that they will support an independent contr actor determination.