Jacob Wilson

Jacob Wilson guides entrepreneurs, family offices, and growing companies through fund formation, securities governance, entity structuring, and the transactions that shape their businesses, with deep roots in the oil and gas industry. A former landman, longtime business owner, and private fund investor, he’s sat on both sides of the table and knows what founders and investors each need to see. Clients get upfront, responsive counsel and a clear view of exactly where their project stands at every step.

Fund Formation and Securities Governance for Private Funds and Family Offices

Much of Jacob’s practice centers on fund formation, including mineral funds, and the securities governance that comes with raising capital. He manages the full compliance path, and helps family offices structure investment vehicles around their goals. As SEC oversight changes and securities rules continue to evolve, he keeps clients on the right side of a line that isn’t as clear as it once was. His own investments in private funds give him a view many fund lawyers lack: not just how their firm builds a fund, but the range of ways it can be done and what prospective investors expect to find in an offering.

Entity Formation, Acquisitions, and Commercial Contracts

Jacob structures entities and handles corporate governance for companies that need sophisticated counsel without large-firm overhead, often businesses well below the billion-dollar market cap range. He drafts letters of intent and purchase and sale agreements for entity acquisitions, and negotiates the JOAs, PSAs, and master service agreements that keep upstream operations and service relationships running. Every document is in place, every signature accounted for, and every detail settled before closing. Feighny Hartle’s size lets his team bring the same depth of experience as much larger firms at a more strategic price point, with the agility to move on the client’s timeline.

Responsive Counsel and Full Visibility on Complex Transactions

Jacob is direct and quick to respond with clients, and on fund formations and other multi-part matters, he backs that up with a working roadmap of the entire engagement. Every task is assigned an owner and checked off as it’s completed, including securities filings, company agreements, signature pages, and ancillary documents. Clients get regular status updates, so they never have to wonder where a project stands or what’s holding it up.

Landman and Energy Asset Experience Behind Oil and Gas Work

Before focusing on corporate law, Jacob worked as a landman in West Texas courthouses, for large E&P companies, and for a small family fund acquiring minerals, and later within a family office managing natural gas assets. That foundation in title analysis and mineral ownership give him a well-rounded structure for the oil and gas world. It also means he speaks the language of clients who came up as landmen and engineers before launching their own companies. He tracks the shifts that affect their bottom line, from trends in mineral purchasing to Texas Supreme Court decisions changing how royalties are calculated.

Entrepreneurial Perspective from Building His Own Businesses

Jacob began his career by hanging his own shingle and has owned and operated businesses for more than a decade, including a group of coffee and bicycle shops in Texas, while staying active in real estate investing in Colorado. He knows firsthand the task list a founder has to juggle, which is why the driven, creative clients willing to go for it are the ones he most enjoys supporting. When a client brings an idea that doesn’t fit neatly into black and white, he looks for the way to make it work. Outside the office, he enjoys fly fishing, gardening, and home remodeling, and values time with his wife and three children.