Based in Seattle, and practicing together in Washington State for more than 25 years, Ed Budge and Erik Heipt are preeminent attorneys for victims of police brutality and their families. The attorneys at Budge & Heipt have obtained millions of dollars for victims of excessive police force in and around Seattle and Washington State. Our success includes some of the highest settlements in the Seattle region for people who have been seriously injured or killed by the Seattle police, county sheriff’s deputies in Washington state, Washington state officers, and police officers working for agencies in and around the Seattle area.
We have successfully sued the Seattle Police Department for causing catastrophic injuries from the unjustified use of police force. We have successfully sued county police officers in Washington state for causing wrongful death from the excessive use of police force. We have successfully sued police officers in cities surrounding Seattle for wrongful police shootings. We have successfully handled lawsuits for victims of in-custody deaths in county jails in Washington State—both west and east of the Cascades.
Seattle Police Brutality and Excessive Force Attorneys
Based in the historic Capitol Hill section of Seattle, Budge & Heipt have developed a national reputation in our area of focus: obtaining justice for victims and their families when police or jail officers cause catastrophic injury or wrongful death. Our cases have been covered by the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, NBC, CBS, NPR, and a host of other nationally prominent news outlets. Our cases have also received extensive coverage from the Seattle Times and other news outlets throughout Washington. Unlike many other lawyers, our area of practice is limited. We focus almost exclusively on civil rights cases against police and jails and limit our practice to cases that involve the most serious injuries and wrongful death. Since the firm was founded, we have obtained more than $120 million in jury verdicts and settlements.
Although we handle cases in federal courts throughout the country, the Seattle area is our “home turf,” and we have successfully litigated in the State of Washington for over two decades. Our notable results in the Seattle region and Pacific Northwest include a $26.75 million jury verdict arising from a death in the Spokane County Jail, an $8 million jury verdict for a woman wrongfully shot by a state trooper, a $5 million jury verdict in a civil rights case in the Seattle division of the Federal District Court for the Western District of Washington, a $4.5 million settlement involving the death of a teenage jail inmate in Eastern Washington, a $3 million settlement (negotiated during the middle of a jury trial) for the death of a Washington prisoner, a $3 million settlement involving a wrongful police shooting by a King County Sheriff’s Deputy, a $2.5 million settlement with the State of Washington involving a wrongful police shooting by a Washington State officer, a $1.75 million settlement against City of Seattle involving excessive force by the Seattle Police against a mentally ill man, a $1.75 million settlement involving a wrongful police shooting in Lynnwood, Washington, a $1.6 million settlement arising from police brutality and jail misconduct in Jefferson County, Washington, a $1.2 million settlement arising from the death of a young man in the Benton County, Washington jail, a $1.5 million settlement against the Washington Department of Corrections involving the death of a Washington prisoner, a favorable jury verdict later resolved for $1 million, and other confidential settlements in the seven-figures involving in-custody deaths in and around the Seattle area. We regularly practice in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington and the Eastern District of Washington, as well as state court when appropriate.
Experienced Lawyers Representing Victims of Excessive Force
We are not afraid to go to trial. We have tried civil rights cases to jury verdict in the Western District of Washington at Seattle, the Western District of Washington at Tacoma, and King County Superior Court in Seattle. We have obtained jury verdicts of $26.75 million in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, $9.8 million in King County Superior Court and more than $5 million in a civil rights case in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle.
Lawyers in Washington State regularly consult with Budge & Heipt about police brutality and excessive force cases in and around Seattle. We have lectured Washington lawyers and law students on pursuing civil rights cases involving jail deaths and are authors of the latest update to the prisoners’ rights section of the of Washington Civil Rights Deskbook. Ed Budge is an Eagle Member of the Washington State Association for Justice—the largest civil justice advocacy organization in Washington.
Ed Budge and Erik Heipt have lived in Seattle for more than 25 yers. We care deeply about our community and about the civil rights of people in and around the Seattle area and Washington generally. We have helped families throughout the Seattle region obtain justice when loved ones have been killed or seriously hurt by police officers. We are passionate about what we do.
The attorneys at Budge & Heipt have the respect of lawyers who defend excessive force cases and in-custody death lawsuits. We have litigated against the Washington Attorney General’s office, the King County Prosecutor’s Office, and against attorneys hired to defend police officers, jail guards, correctional healthcare companies doing business in Washington and public agencies. We hold ourselves to high ethical standards. Every civil rights case we take is pursued vigorously and aggressively, but also honestly and respectfully.
We pride ourselves on our thoroughness and preparation. We have taken hundreds of depositions in and around Washington state. We have worked with some of the most well-regarded experts in and around the Pacific Northwest on subjects ranging from proper police procedures, proper practices for jail healthcare, cause of death in civil rights cases, and other medical issues surrounding cause of death. Mediators who work in the greater Seattle area know that we are among the most highly-regarded civil rights lawyers in the Seattle region—especially when it comes to the most serious excessive force cases against police and civil rights cases arising from jail deaths.
Seattle Based — Nationally Known
Because of our national reputation, we are regularly asked by attorneys nationwide to consult with them in civil rights cases. Although we are based in Seattle, we have handled in-custody death cases in federal district courts throughout the country: against counties, cities, correctional healthcare companies, sheriffs, deputies, state troopers, and others. Our results are directly related to our hard work and passion for what we do.
Our police brutality and civil rights cases are generally limited to cases that involve the most serious injuries or wrongful death. If you or a loved on would like to consult about a possible case, please contact our office for a free consultation. There is absolutely no cost or obligation to do so.
