In February 2022, scholars, legislators, and industry and labor thought leaders converged virtually at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law to offer state-of-the-art legal and policy perspectives on regulating the gig economy – particularly in the frontline state of California. This Essay sets the stage for these distinguished contributions in a special Symposium issue of the Pacific Law Review. It addresses a foundational question: who is an “employee” and who is an “independent contractor” in the eyes of the law? The answer affects everything from wage rights and taxation to tort liability and discrimination protections. This Essay explains why determining a worker’s status is so fraught in the gig economy, where stakes and incentives are shaped by erratic legal frameworks and firm opportunism.