Related to the issue of IP; I'd be wary of anything which aims to restrict your trade. The laws probably change state by state, and its possible for a contract

Related to the issue of IP; I'd be wary of anything which aims to restrict your trade. The laws probably change state by state, and its possible for a contract to include terms which would never hold up if challenged. Any restrictions on your ability to do work in the same industry or geography is an immediate warning for me. Its difficult to draw industry boundaries and a client could pick and choose adjunct industries at their discretion. Anything bordering on a non-disclosure agreement is also a problem. If you are freelancing for multiple clients, the chance that you might work with a client with some overlapping concept or business model means that even being in the room might breach your contract. Large organisations might have related projects, that cause concern even if they aren't related to the work you are doing. Confidentiality agreements would be safer, I imagine. I had an employment contract that gave the company rights to personally track or record me if required. I don't imagine they do so, and you can't relinquish your rights when violation of the law is involved. What it would allow though is the organisation to record my emails or phone history should I be breaching my independence or regulatory duties, which I feel makes sense and is a much different issue. Either way, any alarming conditions are just something you should have them clarify in writing. I think most of the time these contracts are fairly pro-forma anyway. IANAL.