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added information on Hand formula
For professionals such as physicians, the standard of care is what a reasonably prudent professional would do under the circumstances. This "Bolam Test"<ref>''Bolam v. Friern Hospital'' [1957] 1 WLR 582.</ref> is used in medical malpractice cases.
For professionals such as physicians, the standard of care is what a reasonably prudent professional would do under the circumstances. This "Bolam Test"<ref>''Bolam v. Friern Hospital'' [1957] 1 WLR 582.</ref> is used in medical malpractice cases.
More generally, courts often ask whether the additional precautions the defendant might have taken would have reduced the risk or amount of injury enough so as to be worth the defendant's effort. In other words, is the burden of taking a precaution less than the probability that precaution will avoid the harm multiplied by the size of that harm. If yes, then the defendant has not lived up to his standard of care and should be found negligent. This principle was first expressed by Judge Learned Hand in ''United States v. Carroll Towing''.<ref>159 F.2d 169 (2d. Cir 1947)</ref>
==References==
==References==