Dr. Joan Kathryn Archer

Joan was born in Spokane, Washington on November 6, 1960, to Ralph Albert Archer and Shirley Jean Archer. She grew up in Spokane with a love of the outdoors, including riding her childhood horse and participating in Girl Scouts. In addition to high school debate, she also was a member of the tennis team. Joan went on to attend Gonzaga University where she was a talented debater and ultimately coached debate at Gonzaga. During her tenure as coach, she took multiple teams to the National Debate Tournament and the Cross Examination Debate Association Nationals. After Gonzaga where she graduated Summa Cum Laude, she went on to earn her Master's at Wayne State University in Communication Studies and Public Relations. From there, she earned her Ph.D in Communication Studies and Jury Behavior and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Kansas, all while serving as a debate coach at both universities. There was always a conundrum when the great basketball teams of Gonzaga and Kansas played against each other. Joan is survived by her beloved daughter, Alexandra “Alex” Rose Archer.

Joan enjoyed a long and distinguished legal career. Following graduation from law school, she served as a law clerk to Justice Fred N. Six of the Kansas Supreme Court and was licensed to practice in Kansas and Missouri. For more than twenty-five years, Joan practiced law with prominent firms in the Kansas City metropolitan area, such as Stinson, Lathrop & Gage, and Husch Blackwell, serving as a trusted business and risk management adviser to her clients. As a first-chair trial attorney, she won multi-million dollar cases, including complex intellectual property, breach of contract, and product liability cases. At Husch Blackwell, Joan was a partner in the Food & Agribusiness and Intellectual Property practice groups. This prepared her for her position as General Counsel at Farmobile, an agricultural tech start-up in Leawood, Kansas, which was acquired during Joan’s tenure by AGI Digital. For five years, Joan served as Farmobile’s first General Counsel navigating complex intellectual property litigation in the United States and Canada. For the past two years, Joan practiced with the national firm, Carlton Fields, and was affiliated with its Los Angeles office. She was a leader in its intellectual property practice group and was appointed shareholder last February.

Joan was a zealous advocate of the importance of the rule of law and serving the profession. She was an active leader in the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association having served as Co-Chair of its Intellectual Property, Corporate Counsel, and Alumni Committees, Past Division Director, and former Member of Council. She was also a former member of the ABA Standing Committee on State and FederalCourts and served in leadership positions in many corporate counsel organizations, including the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Agriculture Retailers Association. Joan was a frequent speaker and author with respect to issues regarding technology, data privacy, intellectual property, and risk mitigation.

Joan enjoyed traveling the world with her daughter. From Hong Kong to Rome to Hawaii, Joan loved to experience other cultures and share these experiences with Alex. They would spend hours wandering every notable museum in between walking tours of every city they visited. Recently, Joan and Alex visited Paris before traveling to Edinburgh over the New Year’s holiday. The two also shared a love of Disney, taking many trips to Walt Disney World over the years. Joan was a single mom but made sure to attend every ice skating competition and school event, never missing any of her daughter’s milestones despite her busy work schedule.

Though Joan always missed the West Coast, she loved Kansas City and her Prairie Village community where she resided for more than 20 years. Joan was an avid Chiefs and Royals fan and would fly to Los Angeles to watch Super Bowls with her daughter. She loved to listen to jazz and Retro Cocktail Hour on NPR. In particular, she enjoyed live jazz at the French Market on Thursdays. Cafe Provence, on the other side of the French Market in the Prairie Village Shops, was her favorite local restaurant. She and Alex celebrated every Christmas Eve and birthday at this special place. She also enjoyed walking her dogs in the neighborhood and playing with her cats. Most of all, Joan loved sitting on the couch next to her daughter and watching TV every night.

Joan’s sense of humor, intelligence, compassion, and kindness will be missed by all who knew her. She was a trusted colleague, caring friend, and extraordinary mother.

Visitation will be from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM on Saturday, May 3, 2025 at Cure' of Ars Catholic Church, 9401 Mission Road, Leawood, Kansas 66206, followed by Mass of Christian Burial at 12:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Gonzaga Debate Endowment.