Not Another Lawyer Joke

The Benton County Daily Record reports that Eric Dean Archer, a Rogers attorney accused of embezzling money from his clients for his personal use, including gambling activities, now sits in the Tunica County Mississippi jail awaiting extradition to Benton County on two counts of theft of property, a class B felony; and two counts of forgery, a class C felony. Archer is suspected of converting his clients’ money to his own use. Archer previously was arrested in 2004 and charged with theft of property, a class B felony, after an official with Arvest Bank reported Archer owed the bank $28,333 for insufficient funds on checks he deposited to his account.

I am of three minds about this news. I am always saddened when an officer of the court goes astray of the law we have sworn to observe and uphold, but I might be secretly pleased that the field is cleaned up a bit and the competition diminished. On the third prong, I am glad that they found Archer in Tunica instead of West Siloam Springs. That would have been really embarrassing for the profession.