Case Study: Lease Maintenance Issues

To provide greater efficiency in the delivery of legal services, we have tailored legal forms to address issues expected to arise on a regular basis within a client’s project area. For example, in a coalbed methane project we developed an oil and gas lease form that addressed the lease maintenance issues created by dewatering and phased drilling programs along with easements and surface damage agreements. As the project matured we revised the royalty clause to reflect the marketing system and developed form letters of intent and purchase and sale agreements to deal with trades within the area. These forms were given to the land department and limited the need to use of outside counsel in the negotiation and drafting of future agreements.