The lawyers at Budge & Heipt are distinguished in our area of focus: representing victims and their loved ones following death or serious injury that has occurred in jail or prison, as well as cases involving death or serious injury from excessive police force. Due to our experience and focus on these cases, we periodically blog about issues surrounding these cases. Because every case is different, our blog should not be taken as legal advice. To discuss your case specifically, contact our firm.
Jail death attorneys, Budge & Heipt, have filed a $10 million claim against the King County Jail in Seattle for the wrongful death of a pretrial detainee. The detainee, Nathan Zambryski, died at the jail in May 2015 from complications relating to alcohol withdrawal. Budge & Heipt, the lawyers for the estate of Mr. Zambryski, […]
When an attorney or lawyer reviews a potential police brutality or jail abuse case for the first time, one of the most important questions that needs to examined at the beginning is this: when does the statute of limitations expire? The statute of limitations is critical to know, because it sets the maximum time after […]
Searching for a lawyer or attorney to handle a wrongful death claim against a jail or police department can be a challenging process. One unfortunate reality is this: attorneys who work on a contingency basis on wrongful death claims must generally be convinced that a case is valuable enough to pursue before they will agree […]
Finding the best police misconduct attorneys and lawyers for your case can be a difficult process. In our experience, potential clients tend to have similar questions when trying to find the best attorney or lawyer for their police misconduct case. Q: How much experience does Budge & Heipt have in representing victims of police misconduct? […]
Hiring a police brutality attorney can be among the most important decisions you make. There is no shortage of lawyers in America. But only a tiny fraction of lawyers focus on police brutality. When it comes to winning your police brutality case, the lawyer you choose should be one who knows the law of police […]
Illegal searches and excessive force by police sometimes go hand-in-hand. This was the case in 2012 when two officers entered the bedroom of a Seattle-area man and shot him 16 times as he lay in his own bed. Remarkably, the man survived this wrongful police shooting. He hired Budge & Heipt to represent him in […]
Excessive force in jail is a reality. Police officers and jail guards wield tremendous power. It is a power given to them by us—the people. We the people give government agents the power to take a person out of his or her home, or car, or off the street. We give them the power to […]
Spit hoods (also known as “spit masks”) have been increasingly used by police and other law enforcement officers in recent years. A spit hood, or spit mask, is a fabric covering or “hood” that can be placed over a person’s head and secured at the neck with an elastic band. The idea is to prevent […]
Obtaining punitive damages in a civil rights case should be a goal in every lawsuit where a police officer acted maliciously or in reckless disregard of a person’s civil rights. Victims of civil rights violations are eligible to receive various forms of monetary damages. One form of damages is called “economic damages.” Economic damages represent […]
Police officers are prohibited under the Constitution from using excessive police force. Whether police force is excessive depends on the facts and circumstances of each case. To measure whether force was excessive, courts look to a number of factors. These include, for example, the nature and severity of the force, whether the person presented an […]
If you or a loved one has been a victim of serious injury and/or death at the hands of police or in jail or prison, tell us about your case.