This paper explains why a restraint on alienation within an oil and gas lease should be enforceable. The reasons that privately-imposed restraints on alienation are sometimes invalidated simply do not apply to a restraint within an oil and gas lease. Rather, the relationship created by an oil...

The so-called second branch of arising-under jurisdiction has caused too many problems for too little gain. The branch should be clipped, leaving only the Holmes branch remaining: a suit arises only under the law that creates the cause of action. The second branch has created mischief and...

An unfamiliar number appears on your caller ID at work. After hanging up, you will wish the caller had been merely an IRS agent informing you of a personal audit. Instead, it is much worse. You are an employee of a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) member institution, and the call...

This Article shows that, in adverse possession disputes, a uniform approach to the claim of right inquiry can produce undesirable results. To reach the desired result in one type of adverse possession case, a court might be forced to adopt a particular approach for determining whether the...

The traditional Texas oil and gas lease expressly allowed the operator to freely transfer the working interest in the lease. These transfers, however, have occasionally been made to sketchy operators who are not attentive to the rights of the surface estate owner. Consequently, more and more...

Under the “Maine Rule” for adverse possession, only possessors having the requisite intent can perfect an adverse possession claim. The Maine Rule has been consistently criticized. The history behind the adoption of the Maine Rule, however, and the purpose it was to serve, have been ignored....

Modern choice of law doctrine invites judges to consider the interests that states have in applying their law to a dispute. But modern choice of law doctrine has never provided judges with a rubric by which to conduct this interest analysis. This trend continues in the proposed draft of the...