New Mineral Owner - Do I need a lawyer?

General Mineral Rights Discussion
1

Hello all,

I am beginning to get offers for leases, but I am unsure how to proceed. I have a couple of questions:

  1. Should I use an attorney for all of my correspondence and negotiation? I am unsure how risky it is to try to do it yourself.
  2. If I get a lawyer, should it be a lawyer from Reeves County/surrounding area? I live in California, and I don’t have any connections out of state at this time. How would one connect with a lawyer out of state?

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I very much appreciate any advice!

2

Having been in this business for 35 years, and on all sides (and ends) of the table at one point or another, I’d certainly recommend you engage competent counsel. While you’ve not mentioned (and rightly so) the volume or amount of your mineral holdings, I’ll assume they are enough to matter, and like any professional help, lawyers cost real money. The objective is to be sure you retain one experienced in oil and gas, and one who knows the general area also.

It’s the state of TX law that you’ll be concerned with and governed by, thus a lawyer/firm licensed to do business in TX is what you’re after.

Remember that lawyers are, and rightly so, concerned primarily with the law. Moreover, they should be looking out for you with respect to risk abatement, well constructed contractual language, and associated administrative issues related to oil and gas leases.

You’ll find several lawyers who contribute here on this site, and can observe some who are shown here on our Directory.

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3

Let me chime in here and endorse getting an oil and gas/land lawyer to represent you in any dealings with operating companies. In my latest dealing, my lawyer secured a very agreeable contract for me and even talked the operator into paying his fees…so it cost me nothing!!

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4

You may be able to hire a competent landman cheaper, but it depends on how complicated the leasing will be.

10

He was talking about leasing, not selling. Really questionable to advise someone to sell.

11

You absolutely need an attorney to handle you matters. I also live out of state; there are lawyers websites that identify attorneys in every state and their expertice. That is how I found Drennan, Langdon and Fidel in Lubbock, TX. I dealt with Joe Drennan and Wendall Langdon and could not be more pleased. There is no way I could have ever do for myself what they were able to do for me because of their knowledge of the oil and gas business, the area and also the companies out there making offers. They know who is real and who isn’t; they also know how to protect you for those you need to stay away from.

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