Question: I was offered a job by a US software company.
On my first day at work they told me they couldn't actually hire me for legal and technical reasons.

So, now they want me to be a consultant and to become self-employed.

I had plans to buy a house in UK soon, and now I won't be able to do it unless I provide at least 24 months of invoices as self-employed.

Nobody is taking responsibility, they are blaming their 'solicitors'.

Therefore, my question is: how can I handle this situation (sudden request to change contract) in a professional way?

Answer: 
> 
> they added a new clause where the company might sue me to hell and back if they find it appropriate
> 
> 
> 

That's a contract that I might be disinclined to sign.

For example as an employee I wouldn't expect to be *sued* if someone finds a fault in software that I've written (because I expect them to test it too, etc.) ... but as an contractor (perhaps a.k.a. "independent supplier") I'm not so sure. What if they were sued by *their* client, and they tried to deflect the liability onto me?

They may allow you to tweak the wording of the contract slightly (before you sign it, assuming your request is reasonable and they want to employ you).

For example I once altered a contract so that it said I could expect to be sued in the case of "gross negligence", instead of just "negligence" (I decided there's a difference between negligence and gross negligence and the latter would be more difficult to prove).

If you are going to be self-employed, here's quite an interesting video I watched recently on the subject of legalities -- [Mike Monteiro: F\*ck You, Pay Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVkLVRt6c1U)
The contract appears to be a bait-and-switch, in that they tempted you away from your previous employment with a very generous sum, only to rescind said contract after you accepted, which I believe violates good faith in terms of legality, and certainly illegal.

Now they have you in an unfavourable situation, they will attempt to whittle down and remove the benefits and hope the pressure of needing a job forces you to accept the now unfair and dubious terms.

The fact they continue to, like a classic Nigerian scam email, offer you generous sums whilst whittling down your rights (being self-employed means they can terminate you at any time, and the lawsuit clause means they can sue you like a third party: basically, they intend to get you to work for them, then sue back the 'generous' money they give you) is highly suspicious and a red flag for underhanded approaches.

This is a malicious company, and I would actually go so far as to recommend detailing your experiences online publicly and outing the company so other people do not fall for this trap. Such underhanded practices should not be tolerated nor disguised.