Tags:
Most cases prior to the Haynesville Play where production gaps were significant and there were no provision for or payment under a shut in clause resulted in the lessee simply recording a release when noticed by the lessor. Obviously there was less at stake for both parties before the value of deep rights were known.
How do you know the attorneys you consulted were actually experienced O&G attorneys? Did you do any research? Or did they just tell you that they were experienced in mineral law? Mineral Deeds do not get screwed up by "experienced O&G attorneys" in my opinion. As to the opinion of those not recommending pursuit of litigation, that does not necessarily prove experience one way or the other. Every case is unique. Experienced O&G attorneys pick their cases carefully as the results will define their careers and their financial success. And many mineral owner plaintiffs do not make ideal clients. A Haynesville related example would be those mineral owners held by old leases who wish to "demand development" of the shale. Experienced O&G attorneys do not write demand letters for clients who are unwilling to follow through with a law suit. If they got a reputation for sending demand letters and not following up with a suit, very soon no energy company would take their letters seriously.
Litigation over mineral issues has always been a rather complicated and difficult area of legal practice which has now become more so by a factor of 10 owing to the size of the companies in this Play and their penchant for contesting each and every legal challenge. The relatively small number of local lawyers and firms with extensive O&G experience have traditionally had client bases that were either O&G companies or owners of large private land holdings. Unfortunately the first group was the larger and they now represent additional O&G companies and either continually run into conflicts of interest or simply choose to not risk the wrath of O&G clients by representing land/mineral owners. I am personally aware of only a handful of attorneys who I consider sufficiently experienced and ethical to practice mineral law and who tend to do so for the mineral owner.
Yes, I did my research. Note, title opinions are OPINIONs. When we were ready to lease for $20000 an ac. the O & G co. discovered an old lease that held over 4000 ac. We bought the property because of the mineral rights and had the mineral title run. I also found out that E & O insurance did not cover our loss because it was an opinion. Two o&g attorneys were not interested in trying to get us out of the lease AFTER we paid them for their time.
I now run my own titles and have not had any problems with hbp. I take my time and I learned a lot from the mistakes made by legal professionals. I think they hurriedly do the titles or farm the work out (that is what I found out happened in my case).
KCM,
Residents of Louisiana are at a tremendous disadvantage when it comes to litigating against large companies. The state law does not allow for punitive damages. So a company knows it can screw the little guy because, there is no real penalty for it, no matter how bad their actions. Also, lawsuits cost a lot of money. If you aren't going to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars, you would not risk the amount of money a lawsuit would cost. Louisiana typically does not allow a plaintiff, even if successful, to recover legal fees. The civil system in Louisiana is stacked against the little guy.
386 members
27 members
455 members
440 members
400 members
244 members
149 members
358 members
63 members
119 members
© 2024 Created by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher). Powered by
h2 | h2 | h2 |
---|---|---|
AboutAs exciting as this is, we know that we have a responsibility to do this thing correctly. After all, we want the farm to remain a place where the family can gather for another 80 years and beyond. This site was born out of these desires. Before we started this site, googling "shale' brought up little information. Certainly nothing that was useful as we negotiated a lease. Read More |
Links |
Copyright © 2017 GoHaynesvilleShale.com