Hello I have been offered a lease contract on property and am wondering the going rate a lawyer would charge to negotiate a lease. The contract is fairly simple and deals with 12-13 acres.
Does anyone know a fair flat rate amount a lawyer would charge or the percentage of a bonus they would require? Thanks for your time and I apologize but this is all new to me.
WV Living,
I use an attorney to negotiate all my leases in WV, the going rate is anywhere from 500.00 - 1,000.00, which I consider cheap insurance.
Feel free to contact me through the site and I will give you a recommendation.
Thank you so much for your help. Just trying not to get ripped off by a lawyer
Good luck on that.
I have serious questions on the abilities of a Landman vs. an Attorney. One or two words can mean a significant difference, but I am only speaking from personal experience. What type of malpractice does the Landman carry in the event of an error?
I paid an attorney $2225 and all he did was look at the lease. He told me 450 an hour and I didn't think it would take that many hours. signed a contract so I was stuck with it. Be wary
That is what I am worried about. I'm going to try this landman company and see what happens.
Amen brother!
I believe that an experienced oil and gas attorney would generally be a better choice than a landman for actually drafting the lease, especially if the property is medium to large in size. An oil and gas lease is a contract, and if there is a dispute over the lease, every single word in that contract will matter. I have seen cases literally turn on the placement of a punctuation mark such as a comma or a parentheses, or on the use of the indefinite article "an" as opposed the definite article "the." While such things may seem trivial to a layman, they do matter to judges, and they can have million dollar consequences for the mineral owner. This is why I generally recommend using an attorney to draft the actual lease form.
That said, attorneys are not all created equal. All lawyers have various different kinds of expertise, and some lawyers are just plain better than others. Hiring a lawyer that practices personal injury law to negotiate your oil and gas lease makes about as much sense as going to a proctologist to set your broken bone - either one is technically qualified to perform the task, but neither would be the right choice for your situation.
A good landman or mineral manager can be a tremendous asset to a mineral owner in negotiating a lease, and in many cases a landman can be a better option than an attorney who doesn't practice oil and gas law. Mineral Managers such as Buddy Cotten, who posts on this forum, can be as knowledgeable as most oil and gas attorneys about oil and gas lease provisions and clauses, and they will generally have their own lease form that has been vetted by an oil and gas attorney. If you can find a good mineral manager who is well-qualified, that would be a great way to go.
Whether you go with an attorney or landman/mineral manager, you should ask for a flat fee to negotiate your lease rather than an hourly rate. Attorneys will generally cost more than the landman, but not always.
Well Stated!
Kyle Nuttall is a member of this forum and WV lawyer specializing in Oil and Gas matters.
Does anyone have a good attorney who lives in the West Texas area?
Will, Would suggest posting this in the Reeves County group, as you may get more responses.