Here’s an interesting bit of information from the PA Supreme Court regarding the leases landmen are “negotiating” with landowners.
“There is a wealth of authority for the proposition that the habitual drafting of legal instruments for hire constitutes the practice of law…
According to the generally understood of definition of the practice of law in this country, it embraces … conveyances, the preparation of legal instruments of all kind and ingeneral, all advice for clients, and all action taken for tem in connection with the law” - PENNSYLVANIA SUPREME COURT
The above was found in a portion of a very recent article provided to this writer by a reader who is a Realtor. It was written by James Goldsmith, Esq., general counsel to the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors. It was shared with this writer that there there exists the possibility of filing an action based on the unlicensed practice of law. Would that render existing leases invalid? Almost certainly not by itself, however, with some of the other problems know n to exist in some of the earlier leases, it could add “weight” to the argument.
It will be interesting to see the results if the law community decides this is a matter to be persued. Maybe leases will be negotiated (and more importantly modified) by attorneys, not landmen who have earned a reputation by many locally as being somewhere well below used car salesmen. Actually, that may be an insult to the car salesmen.
Your thoughts?
In practice, I’m not sure the landmen actually do the drafting of these gas leases, much less any habitual drafting. The ones I’ve seen certainly appear to have been drafted by rather sophisticated O & G law firms, no doubt in Houston, Oklahoma City or Pittsburgh, and given preprinted to the landmen or their companies to take into the field. Currently, though perhaps not a year or two ago, the practice is for local attorneys to negotiate with the companies for modifications to the preprinted forms, byway of addendum provisions, of which there are a multitude. Even the modifications appear to be drafted, on the companies’ side, by their legal staff or at least upper management, not the landmen. Sadly, many early signers did not bother to consult their attorneys for advice on these gas leases and are paying the price, both monetarily and in other problem areas as drilling operations commence. Many more will surely arise as the gathering pipelines start being built.
I have many thoughts regarding the comments in this blog especially regarding Landmen. Being one myself, a Pennsylvania resident and landowner I find the contiued remarks regarding Landmen very distastful. Additionally, some remarks made appear to me to be based in partial truth so as to generate fear. getting back to my initial concern regarding the continued bashing of Landmen I offer (copied from this sites rules of conduct) the following :
“A couple of words of warning. Please do not libel anyone. If you do, your post will be removed and you will be barred from this site permanently. Please be tolerant of other view points. This is the only way we can have a fair exchange of ideas and possibly some solutions that Susquehanna County desparately needs.”
I suggest the writer of the “Gas Musings” be barred from this site for continuously violating the rules of conduct.
ElmoT - Aw, were your feelings hurt?
Understand this: No one is being libeled here. Everything both the readers and I have written is based on documented sources. You on the other hand, as a landman, are acting illegally as has been stated (and documented previously). If you don’t like the site, leave. This site is a source of documented truth, not a feel good - let’s praise the landman site. Do you really think you are doing a service to these landowners by your actions? Get real.
Again, you and those landmen who are independent contractors are acting ILLEGALLY according to Pennsylvania State Statute. That also has been documented on this site. What don’t you get? You and your like have earned the reputations you have. Oh yes, I am discussing the whole lot of you as a group, rather than one individually.
Now that a whole lot of previously uninformed landowners here are waking up to the fact that they have been screwed out of the vast majority of their biggest asset, there are a whole lot of folks who really dislike you and your kind. That’s fact.
I would further suggest that the landowners who don’t comment here and other places about landmen, are too ashamed to admit they were taken to the cleaners due to their own lack of education about the subject and pressure from you and your kind.
If you have something to say on this site in the future, you better make sure it is WELL documented, not just some hurt feelings, or some “poor me” comment. Get a real job. Get a life.