Standard of care
The standard of care is a legal concept used in the tort of negligence. To make out the tort one must establish: (1) that a duty of care owed by the defendant to the plaintiff; (2) the relevant standard of care relating to that duty; (3) that there has been a breach of the duty by the defendant; and (4) that the plaintiff has suffered damage as a result of the breach.
An example of the standard of care might be the level of treatment that a physician employs in treating a patient. If the care provided by the physician falls below the standard determined by the court and the patient suffers injury as a result, then the patient can sue for negligence. In Vaughn v. Menlove [1] the standard of care is defined as whether the individual "proceed[ed] with such reasonable caution as a prudent man would have exercised under such circumstances".
For professionals such as physicians, the standard of care is what a reasonably prudent professional would do under the circumstances. This "Bolam Test"[2] is used in medical malpractice cases.