Locality Rule
Definition
Defines the standard of care in medical-malpractice cases by requiring that a healthcare professional be held to the standard of competence that obtains in the professional’s own locality or in a similar locality. Some jurisdictions require that an expert medical witness testifying as to the applicable standard of care be from a similarly situated community as the defendant healthcare professional. The locality rule has also been used in some jurisdictions to define the standard of care in legal-malpractice cases.