Mentorship for practicing landmen
A mentor for the work on your desk.
Bring a runsheet you built, a curative list, a lease you're working or an MOR you drafted. If you are matched, a mentor goes through it with you and marks it up, one-on-one or in a small group.
Apply to be matchedAn application is a request, not a seat. There's no start date or fee until a mentor fits your work and you both agree.
Sample runsheet excerpt. Whiteacre, NE/4 of a sample section, 160 ac. Generic parties, not a real tract or a real mentee's work.
White chalk: the runsheet as built. Yellow chalk: a mentor's notes.
| No. | Instr. | Grantor | Grantee | Dated / Filed | Bk/Pg | Land and remarks | Mentor's notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pat. | The State | Able, Thomas | Dated 03/02/1902Filed 04/11/1902 | Bk/Pg 3/210 | NE/4, 160 ac. | Good. You started at the patent and gave it a Bk/Pg. |
| 2 | WD | Able, Thomas et ux | Baker, R. L. | Dated 10/05/1931Filed 10/20/1931 | Bk/Pg 41/88 | NE/4, 160 ac. No reservations. | |
| 3 | MD | Baker, R. L. | Carter, J. W. | Dated 06/14/1947Filed 06/30/1947 | Bk/Pg 77/301 | Und. 1/4 of the O&G and other minerals, NE/4. | A quarter of the minerals leaves here. Carry it on every line below, or it's gone by line 6. |
| 4 | DT | Baker, R. L. | Sample State Bank | Dated 02/01/1952Filed 02/08/1952 | Bk/Pg 90/12 | NE/4. Secures a note. | No release in the index? Search the bank's successor too. Banks merge, and releases get filed under the new name. |
| 5 | WD | Baker, Robert L. | Dunn, E. M. | Dated 08/19/1958Filed 01/06/1960 | Bk/Pg 112/450 | N/2 of NE/4, 80 ac. | R. L. in 1931 and 1947, Robert L. here. Same man? Write down why you think so. He held 160 ac and this deed moves 80. Where does the S/2 go? Follow both halves. |
| 6 | OGL | Dunn, E. M. | Sample Oil Co. | Dated 05/01/1981Filed 05/22/1981 | Bk/Pg 402/77 | NE/4, 160 ac. 3 yr term. | Dunn leases 160 ac but owns 80. Abstract what the lease says, and flag the gap in your notes. |
What a mentee works through
A log is a line for each piece of work and what it took to get it right. These are sample lines, grouped by the six areas on the application. It isn't a syllabus, and the checkboxes are a self-check for you, not a test.
Tick the lines you already do on your own. The open ones are a good place to start, and you can carry them to your application. Skip to the application
Sample lines are for learning the work. They are not legal advice or a title opinion.
Still open
- Runsheets 3
- Curative 3
- MOR 3
- Leasing 3
- ROW 3
- Negotiation 3
Every line ticked. On the application, pick where you want to go further.
How a match works
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You apply.
What you do now, how long you've been in land work, what you want to get better at, your time zone, and whether you'd rather work one-on-one or in a small group.
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It comes to us.
Your application comes to us, the company behind landman.coach. The next step is finding out whether a mentor fits the work you named.
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A first conversation, if it fits.
If a mentor fits your work, a first conversation is the next step. Sending an application doesn't promise a reply or a match.
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Terms come before any work.
Format, schedule and any fee are agreed in writing before any work starts. Until then, neither side owes the other anything.
Apply to be matched with a mentor
Your application comes to us. Sending it doesn't promise a reply or a match.
Applying doesn't reserve a place, set a start date or commit you to a fee. Those come after a match, and only if you agree.
Prefer the phone? (307) 263-8515.
Questions
Who are the mentors?
Nobody is named on this site. A mentor would be a landman who does the kind of work you want to get better at. Applying doesn't commit you to anything.
What does it cost, and how often would we meet?
Neither is set on this site. Any fee, the format and the schedule get agreed in writing before work starts. The application form takes no payment.
Is this a course or a certification?
No. There's no curriculum, exam or credential. It's a mentor going through your own work with you.
Who is it for?
Landmen already doing the work: courthouse and field landmen, abstractors and title examiners, lease and ROW agents, in-house land techs and analysts. If you're brand new, say so on the application. A mentor may still fit, or it may be early. The free lessons at landman.training are a place to start.
Can I bring client work?
Only what you're allowed to share. Take out names and legal descriptions, or bring your own or public-record tracts. The client's file is the client's.
Why do you ask my time zone?
So a match can work on both calendars.
What if there's no mentor for what I asked about?
Then there's no match yet. Applying doesn't promise one, and neither side owes the other anything.
Shorthand on this page
The abbreviations a runsheet runs on. For longer definitions and a curative index, see title.wiki.
- AOH
- Affidavit of heirship. A recorded statement of who a decedent's family and heirs were. In Texas, an AOH that has been of record five years in the deed records of the county where the land lies (or where the decedent lived) is prima facie evidence of the family facts it recites, and anyone interested can prove the true facts (Tex. Est. Code § 203.001).
- ac.
- Acres.
- Bk/Pg
- Book and page where an instrument is recorded. Newer records use an instrument number.
- Curative
- The work of fixing defects in a chain of title, usually by affidavit, ratification, release or court order.
- DO
- Division order. The payor's statement of an owner's decimal interest in a well, sent for the owner to sign.
- DT
- Deed of trust. A lien on the land that should be released of record once the note is paid.
- et ux
- “And wife.” On line 2, the grantor’s wife joined in the deed.
- Instr.
- Instrument. Any recorded document: a deed, lease, release or affidavit.
- MD
- Mineral deed.
- MI
- Mineral interest.
- MOR
- Mineral ownership report. Who owns the minerals in a tract, and in what shares, as of a date.
- NE/4
- The northeast quarter of a section. N/2 is the north half and S/2 the south half.
- NMA
- Net mineral acres. Gross acres times the mineral fraction owned.
- NPRI
- Non-participating royalty interest. A share of royalty with no right to lease and no share of bonus or delay rentals.
- NRI
- Net revenue interest. An owner's decimal share of the revenue from a well or unit.
- O&G
- Oil and gas.
- OGL
- Oil and gas lease.
- Pat.
- Patent. The sovereign's original grant of the land.
- Pugh
- A lease clause that releases land outside a producing unit, or depths below what's producing, after the primary term.
- ROW
- Right-of-way. An easement for a pipeline, power line or road.
- Und.
- Undivided. A share of the whole tract, not a particular piece of it.
- WD
- Warranty deed.