Arkansas Auto Insurance & Crash Law Case Authority Library

Coverage and policy-construction authorities

Barnhill addresses ambiguous other-insurance language and stacking; Harris supplies the contrasting historical enforcement of materially different limiting language; Elam states Arkansas's plain-language and ambiguity principles. Commercial Union v. Johnson and Liberty Mutual v. Thomas address permissive use in automobile coverage. Use these opinions to identify the legal issue and wording that mattered, not as slogans detached from the policy actually issued.

Claims handling, defense and settlement authorities

Southern Farm Bureau v. Allen and Parker (1996) define and limit Arkansas first-party bad-faith theories. Murphy Oil addresses the duty to defend and its distinction from indemnity. Southern Farm Bureau v. Parker (1960) and Hardin address an insurer's handling of liability settlement opportunities and excess exposure. Keep these doctrines separate: common-law first-party bad faith, defense obligations and failure-to-settle/excess liability arise from different relationships and elements.

Crash liability, evidence and damages authorities

Skala (2025) supplies the current Arkansas Supreme Court scope-of-employment framework for respondeat superior. Section 16-64-122 supplies modified comparative fault. Goff addresses spoliation and preservation consequences. Act 28 of 2025 and Rule of Evidence 412, adopted in 2026 Ark. 108, materially changed proof/recovery of past medical costs. Fatal-crash claims must also be divided between §§ 16-62-101 survival and 16-62-102 wrongful death.

Use every authority proposition by proposition

Open the opinion or statute and identify the exact proposition, factual setting, effective date and disposition supporting the guide. Distinguish holding from dicta, allegations from findings, statutes from agency guidance and old law from current amendments. Before relying on a case in an active matter, perform subsequent-history/citator review and check statutory amendments after the decision. This Registry records what each authority establishes and what it does not establish so the public guide does not overstate a citation.

Closing guidance

Use the Arkansas authority library as a research map, not a substitute for reading the controlling source. Match the guide proposition to the statute or opinion, verify currentness, and then apply the authority to the actual policy and facts.