Jakob Brown

Jakob Brown drafts drilling and division order title opinions for oil and gas operators, with a practice rooted in Colorado’s DJ Basin and expanding across Texas. A former field landman, he reads a chain of title knowing how every source document was built and where the gaps hide. Landmen get ownership they can pay on and curative guidance they can act on.

Drilling and Division Order Title Opinions

Jakob’s core work is determining who owns what inside an oil and gas unit, whether examining mineral ownership from patent to present or bringing an original opinion forward from an updated run sheet. Each opinion clearly sets out:

• Mineral and leasehold ownership
• Overriding royalty interests
• Lessor and nonparticipating royalty interests
• Unleased interests within the unit

When an update uncovers an error in the prior opinion, he flags it with corrective guidance, so the mistake doesn’t carry forward into new payments.

Large-Scale Title Projects for Horizontal Development

Horizontal units now cover thousands of acres, and the title work takes a team. Jakob brings the project management to run one, having led associates through a 2,000-plus acre DJ Basin unit spanning roughly 150 subdivisions, each with its own abstract. He makes sure close calls are credited the same way across every tract, with matching curative requirements. Operators get one consistent, defensible opinion, not a patchwork that invites questions at the division order stage.

Subdivision, Road and Railroad Right-of-Way Ownership

Urban and suburban drilling raises ownership questions that rural tracts rarely do. Jakob has worked through mineral ownership beneath subdivision roads that were dedicated rather than deeded. He has also handled the state and private railroad right-of-way issues that come up regularly in Colorado. That experience carries over as operators drill under residential development in other basins, including the Eagle Ford. For the homeowners and families on the other end of the division order, getting it right can mean life-changing royalty income.

Curative Requirements Grounded in the Records

Jakob began his career pulling documents in rural county courthouses and building run sheets from scratch. He knows which missing instruments to look for, what to request from an abstractor and where county-specific records live online. His curative recommendations spell out exactly which documents the client needs and how to obtain them, with detail tailored to the operator’s priorities, such as whether royalties bear post-production costs.