Authors:  Professor Harry L. Reed, South Texas College of Law--Houston
              Adjunct Professor Michael D. Jones, South Texas College of Law--Houston

The editors have endeavored to build a casebook on the following premises:

i. Since the casebook is intended primarily for use in Texas, we prefer a Texas landmark case which, though old, is still the law over a more recent case from some other state. We have used non-Texas cases only where there are no suitable Texas ones. In these few situations, we have selected a case that we believe would be the rule of decision in Texas and/or a case that reflects the majority rule of law.

ii. We feel that the oil and gas lease is the most basic document in this area and should be dealt with early in the course and dealt with most thoroughly. We also feel that the Joint Operating Agreement must be addressed and understood and a series of cases concerning the interpretation of this agreement are included. The interpretation, construction and drafting of mineral interest conveyances have significant and far reaching consequences and we have included the landmark Texas cases on these subjects.

iii. We have devised a pattern of organization that is easy to remember and (based on our experiences) is in line with the way that lawyers, landmen and lease brokers think in practice.