Energy Law
The Appalachian Basin is home to the largest Natural Gas field in the United States. For a decade, the Firm’s Attorneys licensed in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia have provided upstream, midstream and downstream Exploration & Production Companies with quality, cost effective, timely legal representation. The Firm’s Supply Chain Management approach provides legal, land and administrative services.
Due Diligence – The Firm provides clients with the investigative protocol identifying assets for purchase by validating oil, gas and mineral and leasehold ownership interests. Our “boots on the ground” abstracting professionals provide chain of title, tax, lien, judgments “stand-up” searches which are analyzed into ownership reports and/or Certified Title Opinions.
Title Abstracting – The Firms Employee Abstractors provide “stand-up” abstracts of title for Oil, Gas, Coal and Minerals for small and large projects in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Abstracts provide the research for rights of way/easement ownership, certified title opinions and division order title opinions.
Certified Title Opinions – The Firms Professionals have produced in excess of 4,000 Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia Certified Title Opinions for the determination of Oil, Gas, Coal, Mineral and Leasehold Ownership Interests. Opinions are provided in the client’s preferred format or the Firms format, delivered with all exhibits in full color, hardcopy, CD, USB Drive or your FTP site. All Opinions are “bookmarked” to easily navigate through lengthy exhibits.
Division Order Title Opinions – Prepared from our Firm’s Drilling Title Opinion or with reliance on Opinions from another Firm, a bring down and extension of title will provide for royalty calculations by owner and unit in Excel format with curative recommendations including division orders to interest owners to perfect payable title.
Complex Curative – The Firm provides document preparation – Affidavit of Heirship, Affidavit of Non-Production, Affidavit of Identity, Affidavit of Possession, Mortgage, Easement/Rights of Way Subordinations; Ratifications, Amendments, Releases, Genealogical Research for Estate and Heir Identification, GIS Data and Mapping, Actions to Quiet Title and Declaratory Judgments, all to fix defects in the chain of title.
Oil, Gas & Mineral Acquisitions – The Firm has represented Clients in the identification, lease, acquisition and sale of $100,000,000 of Oil, Gas, Coal and Mineral interests. The Energy and Real Estate Practice Group Professionals will prepare the Agreement of Sale, Title Opinion, Settlement Agreement and/or Closing Disclosure, Deed, Lease Assignment. Our Settlement Coordinators will travel to closing (when necessary) to conduct closing and disperse funds.
Litigation – The Litigation Practice Group Attorneys have represented clients in over 50 jury trials in state and federal courts in Pennsylvania and West Virginia including appeals before the Pennsylvania Superior and Supreme Courts. The Attorneys represent clients in the areas of Consumer Protection – Debt Relief and Debt Consolidation, Credit Report Disputes, Debt Collection Harassment, Medical Bill Relief; Real Property – Foreclosure Defense, Landlord/Tenant, Quiet Title Actions, Real Estate Sales Agreement Disputes; Business – Contract Disputes, Partnership and Corporate Dissolutions; Personal Injury – Automobile/Truck/Motorcycle Accidents, Slip and Fall, Defectively Designed or Manufactured Products, Medical/Dental Malpractice
Ownership Report – Stand-Up courthouse abstracts for the identification and ownership of Oil, Gas, Coal and Minerals provides a basis in research for Ownership Reports delivered with all exhibits in full color, hardcopy, CD, USB Drive or your FTP site.
Pipeline Rights of Way/Easements – The Firms Professionals will provide 60 + year abstracts of Title, Subordination of Mortgage, Preparation and Recording of the Right of Way or Easement, including the acquisition or lease of land for well sites and compressor stations.
The Firm’s in-house Forensic Genealogist/Heirship Specialist provides research, analysis and comprehensive reporting on the location of heirs, missing heirs and beneficiaries, location of Estate files and creation of family trees.
The Genealogical services include:
- Heir Location
- Identification of Estate Beneficiaries
- Heirship Affidavits – for oil & gas leasing / Purchase / Sale
- Death Certificates
- Estate File Retrieval
- Support for Estate Administration, Real Estate Sales, Quiet Title Actions
- Declaratory Judgments
GIS Data & Mapping – The GIS Practice Group provides support to all of the Firm’s practice groups. The Firm offers an array of geospatial implementation services including:
- consulting
- data acquisition
- oil & gas leasing verification
- ownership mapping
- project layouts
- map overlays
- unit maps
- Rights of Ways Acquisition
- Oil & Gas Due Diligence
Whether assets are above or below ground, indoors or out, the Firm works with clients to understand their needs and explore whether desktop productivity, hosted or on premise web services, mobile applications, integrated asset management systems, or any other approach provides the optimal geospatial solutions.
Actions to Quiet Title/Declaratory Judgments – The development of the Upper Devonian, Marcellus, and Utica Shale formations have revealed chain of title defects in surface, oil, gas, coal and mineral estates. The Firm’s attorneys where appropriate will file an action to quiet title or declaratory judgment to seek a determination on the ownership of the surface, oil, gas, coal or minerals. When a “gap” in the historical chain of title is an issue, diligence in searching for the lost, missing or identifiable heirs is incumbent on the Plaintiff in proving their case. Before an Action is filed, the Firm’s Genealogical Practice Group’s members with authority from the client will create a “tree” of people to be identified in the action. Actions to Quiet Title and Declaratory Judgments may be used for the determination of ownership, in the alternative, to permit development of sub-surface interests, clients may rely upon the Pennsylvania Dormant Oil & Gas Act.