as some of you know I've been having trouble with a lost lease and had to contact a lawyer. now I might have just found a lease for next year and was thinking about having said lawyer look over the lease agreement before signing.. Do ya'll think it would be worth the money or should I just trust my gut since this land owner is someone I know and has an honest reputation? It would cost about $200-350 depending on ifhe thinks it needs work.

good friend is buying his own land for cattle and hunting so his fathers place will be opening up.

A deer lease for me is a personal deal, not a business deal. If I think the owner is being square with me, then I'd just go with it. I'm just trying to hunt and I don't want a lawyer or a court to be part of my experience.

I am a lawyer. I no longer review personal contracts. Here's why: if you really do your job in making a contract clear and covering even most of the contingencies that may arise, then the contract gets fairly long in a hurry. People don't really want that. I quickly tired of hearing "Well, I don't think that would happen/he would do that."

Then, why are you hiring me to draw up a contract?

Yet, I knew if something DID happen the client would immediately be mad it was not covered in the contract. A real Catch-22.

Thus,I pretty much agree with what deedeetaylor just said.

I would normally agree with that I guess I'm just shell shocked after getting screwed out of my lease this year.

thanks for the advice

I think it's a no brainer to use an attorney these days. Believe me I wish a handshake meant as much as it used but it seems that's no longer the reality. Why not pool you a couple of THF's or other friends to create a standardized agreement with the help of an attorney? Just a thought.

I only do business with a handshake. And pay as i hunt.
If they dont follow through, the payment will stop too.

I never prepay for an entire year.

Seems to me you will be signing the land owners lease not him signing yours. I lease houses and if you don't like my lease I'd tell you to find another house. I would suspect it to be the same with a hunting lease.

Even if you have a solid lease contract what is your recourse? You're gonna have to go to court in your landowners county. Good luck with that. There will also be plenty of big city jackwagons that will lease it if you leave. Only lease for a year, treat it like you own it, dont invest too much in it, and lesson learned if you get burned. Reputation goes far on both sides.

No I would not get a lawyer involved. You would have a 100 page lease contact to protect both side and cover all issues. You take a revised lease contract to a older land owner or any land owner, he's going to tell you "see ya" before you even step foot on the place. And if a land owner knew you contacted a attorney basically for anything, you probably be told to find another place. Getting kicked off a place is a gamble we all take every year and all year, a lease agreement is a piece of paper only.

That money would fill 2 feeders for a year

Keep it simple and use sense