Title examination is at the heart of every oil and gas legal practice—and every oil and gas company. Toeppich and Associates’ title examination practice includes a strong core of seasoned oil and gas attorneys, former landmen, and industry insiders with a wealth of experience in the preparation of opinions for drilling, division orders, financing transactions and acquisitions. Our practice is widely recognized throughout the Gulf Coast, the Permian Basin and the Greater Rockies, and we have handled numerous matters in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado, North Dakota and Pennsylvania. The firm has performed complex title examinations for Fortune 500 operators and small independents alike. We have experience with a variety of title problems, including those unique to rural farmland, exploratory plays, secondary recovery operations, and issues unique to urban shale plays involving hundreds of tracts.
One of the most challenging and specialized disciplines in both real property and oil and gas law, title examination requires a high degree of industry knowledge and legal training. Our clients range from major operators to independents, and from public-traded E&P companies to smaller, family-owned drillers who have trusted us with minimizing billions of dollars in title risk.
We regularly represent and counsel clients in the preparation of purpose-driven opinions. This often includes drafting a variety of curative instruments, including deeds, leases, assignments, and letter agreements. We advise on complex pooling, unitization and leasing issues, as well as land boundary issues and disputes. We also assist with receivership representation and other matters pertaining to land administration.
In an era of custom leases, title examination has taken a turn towards complexity. Once rare, multi-depth partially-severed units are now the norm in developed fields. Our attorneys have experience dealing with complex assets and leasehold positions in each of these plays, and our firm is well-positioned to serve E&P clients with efficient and economic counsel.