You've got to be served by a constable or other officer of the court. You can't just file a suit, mail it out and collect a judgement when the defendant fails to show up. That being said, if you are sued, even if you are completely innocent of everything, it'll most likely cost 10-15k to prove that - and it's 50-50 whether you'll get that money back. That's only if you never go to trial. If you got to trial it'll be more like 50k. If it's inter-state more like 100k. That's why so many suits are settled and why the little guy generally loses unless he's got a brother who is an attorney.
IE is still a better browser BY FAR. As someone who was building web pages and and writing CGI before Netscape was around (Spyglass or somebody was selling Mosaic), I thought Netscape was the bomb when it hit. They lost their edge around 1996, Microsoft took over and the rest, as they say is history. I now write for IE first, and frankly don't care much if some of the stuff doesn't work in Netscape/Mozilla/Opera/whatever because my server logs are 99.9999% IE with the rest being mostly NS4. I run Linux on the servers and Windows on the desktop because Windows still has more of the tools I need during the workday. When that changes, so will I, along with the rest of the world.
Having been in all three positions over the past several years, I'll give my 2 cents.. (I'm in Texas)
Corp - Corp: Most likely for the seasoned veteran who can take advantage of the situation.
Pros:
freedom to negotiate your own rates.
freedom to seek out and negotiate your own projects - and pass on those you aren't interested in.
freedom to sub out chunks of a project - meaning you need to know other guys like you or other contracting types who can help you - this allows you to take on projects that would be too much for you alone.
A biggie - you can write off a lot of stuff as business expenses - Computers, travel, meals, etc.
Another biggie - limited liability - if you flame out the client's server due to your screw up, you have a bit of a shield to keep them from suing you and taking your house or your retirement account (they were dealing with the Corp - not you personally).
Cons:
You have to manage your corporate finances, this means that roughly 40% of what you bill goes to Uncle Sam - even if you decide to spend it before it's time to pay up - You never want to get in debt to the IRS.
There is a lot of paperwork - don't even try to handle it yourself - get a CPA and let them take care of it for you (probably $1500.00 per year).
You have to self-insure - It's expensive - but not bad if you are single.
Independent Contractor: This is a bit of a fuzzy definition but let's assume it means they write a check directly to you the individual.
Pros:
Most of the ones from above but the tax implications in the US can in some cases make this more expensive that Corp - Corp.
Cons:
Expenses are tougher to deal with because all the money is flowing through your personal bank account - instead of both yours and the corporation.
Liability - You will not have the corporate shield to hide behind in the event you are sued - although a large company will sue you personally along with your company anyway.
W2: The least work (and money) of the three.
Pros:
No paperwork or expenses on your part.
Probable insurance coverage by your company.
You can file for unemployment if they fire you without cause.
Cons:
You don't have any of the freedoms of the other two - if you just got out of college that may not matter.
One final thought - If a company is not broke, there is often more money available for contractors than there is for actual employees. This comes from how they account for the money - payroll cannot be hidden on the financials but contractor dollars can usually come from anyplace the company has funds to spend - so for instance they could take $50,000.00 that was earmarked for software purchases and spend it on contractors, but there is not an additional $50,000.00 for payroll - get it?
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You've got to be served by a constable or other officer of the court. You can't just file a suit, mail it out and collect a judgement when the defendant fails to show up. That being said, if you are sued, even if you are completely innocent of everything, it'll most likely cost 10-15k to prove that - and it's 50-50 whether you'll get that money back. That's only if you never go to trial. If you got to trial it'll be more like 50k. If it's inter-state more like 100k. That's why so many suits are settled and why the little guy generally loses unless he's got a brother who is an attorney.
IE is still a better browser BY FAR. As someone who was building web pages and and writing CGI before Netscape was around (Spyglass or somebody was selling Mosaic), I thought Netscape was the bomb when it hit. They lost their edge around 1996, Microsoft took over and the rest, as they say is history. I now write for IE first, and frankly don't care much if some of the stuff doesn't work in Netscape/Mozilla/Opera/whatever because my server logs are 99.9999% IE with the rest being mostly NS4. I run Linux on the servers and Windows on the desktop because Windows still has more of the tools I need during the workday. When that changes, so will I, along with the rest of the world.
Having been in all three positions over the past several years, I'll give my 2 cents.. (I'm in Texas)
Corp - Corp: Most likely for the seasoned veteran who can take advantage of the situation.
Pros:
freedom to negotiate your own rates.
freedom to seek out and negotiate your own projects - and pass on those you aren't interested in.
freedom to sub out chunks of a project - meaning you need to know other guys like you or other contracting types who can help you - this allows you to take on projects that would be too much for you alone.
A biggie - you can write off a lot of stuff as business expenses - Computers, travel, meals, etc.
Another biggie - limited liability - if you flame out the client's server due to your screw up, you have a bit of a shield to keep them from suing you and taking your house or your retirement account (they were dealing with the Corp - not you personally).
Cons:
You have to manage your corporate finances, this means that roughly 40% of what you bill goes to Uncle Sam - even if you decide to spend it before it's time to pay up - You never want to get in debt to the IRS.
There is a lot of paperwork - don't even try to handle it yourself - get a CPA and let them take care of it for you (probably $1500.00 per year).
You have to self-insure - It's expensive - but not bad if you are single.
Independent Contractor: This is a bit of a fuzzy definition but let's assume it means they write a check directly to you the individual.
Pros:
Most of the ones from above but the tax implications in the US can in some cases make this more expensive that Corp - Corp.
Cons:
Expenses are tougher to deal with because all the money is flowing through your personal bank account - instead of both yours and the corporation.
Liability - You will not have the corporate shield to hide behind in the event you are sued - although a large company will sue you personally along with your company anyway.
W2: The least work (and money) of the three.
Pros:
No paperwork or expenses on your part.
Probable insurance coverage by your company.
You can file for unemployment if they fire you without cause.
Cons:
You don't have any of the freedoms of the other two - if you just got out of college that may not matter.
One final thought - If a company is not broke, there is often more money available for contractors than there is for actual employees. This comes from how they account for the money - payroll cannot be hidden on the financials but contractor dollars can usually come from anyplace the company has funds to spend - so for instance they could take $50,000.00 that was earmarked for software purchases and spend it on contractors, but there is not an additional $50,000.00 for payroll - get it?