Arkansas’s strict two-year clock
Arkansas runs one of the strictest malpractice clocks in the country: two years from the date of the negligent act itself rather than from the date the injury was discovered (Ark. Code Ann. § 16-114-203). Most states start the clock when a family learns, or should have learned, that something went wrong. Arkansas generally does not; the main exception is a foreign object left in the body, which allows one year from discovery. A brain injury that only becomes apparent when a toddler misses milestones is still measured from the delivery date.
Children get only a modest extension. Under § 16-114-203(c), a child injured before age nine may sue up to two years after the ninth birthday, an absolute practical endpoint at age eleven for a birth injury, far earlier than in states that toll until adulthood. And the parents’ own claims for medical expenses follow the unforgiving two-year occurrence rule. In Arkansas more than almost anywhere, the honest advice is structural: have the records reviewed as soon as the question arises. Our statute of limitations guide explains how occurrence rules differ from discovery rules.
Damages caps: banned by the Arkansas Constitution
What Arkansas takes with its short clock it declines to take from the verdict. Article 5, § 32 of the Arkansas Constitution forbids the General Assembly from limiting the amount recoverable for injuries or death (outside workers’ compensation), and repeated efforts to amend that provision have failed. There is no cap on economic damages and no cap on non-economic damages. A jury valuing a lifetime of care for a child with a severe birth injury does so without a statutory ceiling.
Expert proof without a filing affidavit
Arkansas once required an affidavit of merit within thirty days of filing, but the Arkansas Supreme Court struck that statute down in Summerville v. Thrower (2007) as an unconstitutional intrusion on the court’s rulemaking power. Do not mistake the missing paperwork for a lower bar: § 16-114-206 still requires expert testimony from a qualified medical professional to prove the standard of care, the breach, and causation. Without a credible expert there is no case; the screening simply happens in the lawyer’s office instead of the courthouse door.
Pursuing an Arkansas birth injury claim
Not every birth injury is malpractice; some injuries happen despite careful, appropriate care, and a records review sometimes ends with that answer. The claims that proceed involve preventable failures: fetal distress ignored on the monitor, a cesarean ordered too late, newborn jaundice left untreated until it became kernicterus, oxygen deprivation causing HIE, or traction injuries leaving a weakened or paralyzed arm. The evidence lives in fetal monitoring strips, medication logs, and NICU charts from the state’s delivery hospitals, anchored by Little Rock’s high-risk and children’s facilities.
Birth Injury Advocate is an alliance of two named firms, Banville Law (New York and Washington, D.C.) and The Weitz Firm, LLC (Pennsylvania and New Jersey); neither is licensed in Arkansas. When you contact us about an Arkansas delivery, we connect your family with the alliance’s vetted network of local birth injury attorneys: Arkansas-licensed lawyers who know the occurrence rule’s traps and work with the obstetric experts § 16-114-206 requires. The consultation is free, and any fee comes only from a recovery.
Arkansas’s clock runs from the delivery, not the diagnosis. If you have questions about a difficult birth, the free records review is how you find out where you stand — before the answer is decided by the calendar.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to file a birth injury lawsuit in Arkansas?
Two years from the negligent act itself, with no general discovery rule (Ark. Code Ann. § 16-114-203). A child injured before age nine may file until two years after the ninth birthday, so a birth injury claim generally ends at age eleven at the latest. Parents’ claims follow the plain two-year rule.
Does Arkansas cap damages in birth injury cases?
No. Article 5, § 32 of the Arkansas Constitution prohibits the legislature from limiting recoverable damages for injury or death, and efforts to change that have failed. Economic and non-economic damages are both uncapped.
Do I need an affidavit of merit to sue in Arkansas?
No filing affidavit is required; the Arkansas Supreme Court struck that requirement down in Summerville v. Thrower (2007). But § 16-114-206 still requires qualified expert testimony to prove the standard of care, breach, and causation, so a physician review remains the real first step.
Sources
- Ark. Code Ann. § 16-114-203: two-year occurrence-based limitation; minor and foreign-object provisions.
- Ark. Code Ann. § 16-114-206: burden of proof by expert testimony in medical injury actions.
- Ark. Const. art. 5, § 32: prohibition on laws limiting the amount of recovery for injury or death.
- Summerville v. Thrower, 369 Ark. 231 (2007), striking down the affidavit-of-merit statute.
This page is for general education and is not legal advice; statutes and cases are cited by name and number so you can verify them, and deadlines depend on facts specific to your case. Legal statements reflect the reviewing attorneys’ professional experience. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.