Mark Walraven
Managing Director, Graft & Walraven
Mark Walraven is a trial lawyer who primarily assists mineral owners with oil and gas lease negotiations, mineral sales, and royalty litigation. Mark negotiates oil and gas leases and sales agreements to obtain the best possible terms for Oklahoma mineral owners. In the last ten years alone, Mark and the G&W Oil and Gas Team have successfully negotiated over $200 million in lease bonuses and sales proceeds for mineral owners. Mark also assists clients in reviewing and negotiating lease assignments, division orders, royalty payment issues, and curing defects in title.
On the litigation side, Mark focuses on royalty underpayments, lease cancellation, trust and probate litigation, and land disputes. Mark’s favorite cases involve helping mineral owners recover unpaid and underpaid royalties. He represents mineral owners in individual, mass, and class actions involving the improper charging of royalty deductions. In the last ten years alone Mark has helped his clients recover and retain over $20 million in wrongfully taken, burdened, and withheld property.
Mark was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Texas in Austin in 2002. After graduating from UT, Mark enlisted in the United States Army. He attended basic training and airborne school at Ft. Benning, Georgia, then served with 1-501 Airborne Infantry Regiment in Ft. Richardson, Alaska. In 2005, then-Sergeant Walraven commissioned as a Lieutenant. He served with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment out of Ft. Hood, Texas until August, 2009 when he left active duty as a Captain. CPT Walraven served in the Texas National Guard until May, 2011. Mark’s service includes a 14-month deployment to Iraq from November, 2007 to January, 2009, where he served as a Scout Platoon Leader in the Diyala Province. For his service in Iraq, Mark earned a Bronze Star Medal and a Combat Action Badge. His unit earned the Valorous Unit Award.
After the Army, Mark attended law school at Baylor University in Waco where he met the love of his life, Chaille Graft. Mark and Chaille were married in 2011 and in 2012 they moved to Clinton, Oklahoma to practice with Chaille’s father, C.B. Graft. Mark and Chaille moved to Weatherford, OK in 2013, and then to Oklahoma City in 2018, opening and maintaining offices in all three cities. Mark and Chaille have three boys, Jackson, Christian and Elias, who attend Crossings Christian School. More than anything, Mark enjoys serving his family and his church. His favorite activities include serving in the men’s and kid’s ministries at Crossings Christian Church, coaching youth sports, traveling with Chaille and the boys, scuba diving, hiking, fishing, horseback riding, and doing anything outside. In his spare time, Mark also practices law.
Areas of Practice:
- Oil and Gas Lease Negotiations
- Oil and Gas Sales and Acquisitions
- Oil and Gas Litigation
- Royalty Deductions/Underpayment
- Lease Cancellation
- Trust and Probate Litigation
- Real Estate Litigation
- Real Estate Sales and Acquisitions
Memberships:
- American Bar Association
- Oklahoma Bar Association
- Oklahoma Bar Foundation
- Custer County Bar Association
- Energy & National Resources Section, Oklahoma Bar Association
- Mineral Lawyers Society of Oklahoma City
- Crossings Christian Church
