Budge and Heipt PLLC

Since its founding in 1998, Budge and Heipt has obtained more than $180 million in jury verdicts and settlements for victims of civil rights violations. The firm has achieved some of the largest verdicts and settlements in the United States for jail wrongful death, prison abuse, and excessive force by police, including record-setting results in jurisdictions such as Washington, Texas, Wisconsin, Oregon, Arkansas, and Indiana.

Budge and Heipt is known for taking a small number of select cases each year, allowing its attorneys to devote substantial time, personal attention, and resources to each client. The firm has the experience and resources to take complex civil rights cases to trial against government entities, police departments, public and private jails, state prisons, and large correctional healthcare corporations.

The firm's attorneys are nationally recognized trial lawyers who have secured numerous multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements in high-profile civil rights cases. Budge and Heipt's work is frequently covered by major news outlets due to the public importance of the jail and police cases the firm handles.

• Wrongful death and serious injury cases arising from abuse, neglect, or unconstitutional conditions in jails and prisons.
• Cases involving failures by correctional staff or correctional healthcare providers to provide adequate medical or mental health care.
• Cases involving abuse, neglect, or excessive force by jail or prison staff.

Police Brutality and Excessive Force

• Police brutality and excessive force cases, including in-custody deaths and non-fatal police shootings.
• Civil rights cases involving excessive force by city, county, or state law enforcement officers.

Other Serious Civil Rights Violations

• Serious civil rights cases involving unlawful treatment of people in custody, including in police stations, jails, prisons, and other detention facilities.

The firm generally handles federal civil rights cases involving catastrophic injuries or wrongful death, rather than minor or less serious claims.

Budge and Heipt reviews potential cases from across the United States and has handled cases in numerous federal district courts nationwide.

No Cost or Obligation to Inquire

• The firm states that there is no cost or obligation for contacting the office to discuss a potential case.

Case Selection

• Budge and Heipt purposefully accepts only a small number of select cases each year.
• This selective approach allows the attorneys to devote substantial time, resources, and personal attention to each client and case.
• The firm focuses on significant civil rights cases involving wrongful death or catastrophic injury, rather than minor or less serious claims.

No Attorney-Client Relationship Until Agreement Signed

• Initial contact with Budge and Heipt does not create an attorney-client relationship.
• Unless and until a prospective client has signed a written representation agreement with Budge and Heipt, the firm is not their lawyer and does not take legal action on their behalf.
• This includes, but is not limited to, the preservation of any applicable statutes of limitation or notice of claim requirements that may apply to potential claims.

Fees and Billing

• The website does not provide specific information about fee structures, contingency arrangements, hourly rates, or costs.
• The agent cannot quote or estimate any fees or billing arrangements. Prospective clients should contact the firm directly to discuss how fees would be handled in their particular case.

Office Address

808 E. Roy St. Seattle, WA 98102 United States

Phone Number

• Main office phone: (206) 624-3060

Website Contact Forms

• "Tell Us About Your Case" and "Contact Us" forms are available on the firm's website at https://budgeandheipt.com.
• Prospective clients can use these forms to provide basic information about a potential case. Submitted information is forwarded to an attorney for review.

Media Inquiries

• Media contact email: media@budgeandheipt.com

Office Hours

The website does not specify set office hours. Prospective clients and media representatives are encouraged to call the office phone number or use the online contact forms at any time to submit an inquiry.

Edwin (Ed) Budge

• Founding attorney and partner.
• More than 30 years of experience representing clients in civil rights and high-end injury and death cases.
• Summa cum laude graduate of the University of Oregon (1991).
• Magna cum laude graduate of Willamette University College of Law (1994), where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the *Willamette Law Review*.
• Known for courtroom skill and for winning some of the highest verdicts and settlements in the country for victims of jail/prison abuse and police brutality.

Erik J. Heipt

• Founding attorney and partner.
• Nearly three decades of trial experience in civil rights cases.
• Member of the Washington and California bars.
• Graduate of the University of Colorado (1991).
• Law degree from Willamette University College of Law (1994), where he served as Associate Editor of the *Willamette Law Review*.
• Has obtained many multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements in high-profile police brutality and jail/prison misconduct cases.

Andrea Woods

• Associate attorney at Budge and Heipt.
• Joined the firm in 2024 as a seasoned litigator with a strong background in civil rights advocacy.
• B.A. with honors from Gonzaga University (2009), where she served as student body president.
• J.D. with high honors from the University of Washington School of Law (2014), where she was a William H. Gates Public Service Law Scholar and president of the Student Bar Association.
• Former clerk for a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
• Previously a staff attorney at the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), focusing on litigation involving criminal justice reform and jail conditions across the United States.
• Nationally recognized for her work, which has been featured in major news outlets.
• Member of the Washington and New York bars.

Corinne Sebren

• Trial lawyer focusing on law enforcement and government accountability, wrongful incarceration, malicious prosecution, wrongful death or serious injury in jail, and other serious civil rights violations.
• Joined Budge and Heipt in 2025.
• J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the *Washington Law Review* and received the Judge Eugene A. Wright Scholar Award.
• Background in civil rights advocacy, including leadership roles with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Whatcom County.
• Has represented clients in high-stakes civil rights litigation against corporations and local governments.
• Co-lead counsel in a federal civil rights jury trial in 2025 that resulted in a $25 million verdict.
• Member of the Washington bar and admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

For more detailed biographies and additional accomplishments, please refer to the attorney profiles on the firm's website.

• Families of people who died in jail or prison due to abuse, neglect, inadequate medical or mental health care, or other unconstitutional conditions.
• Individuals who suffered catastrophic injuries in jail or prison as a result of abuse, neglect, or unconstitutional conditions.
• Individuals and families harmed by police brutality, excessive force, non-fatal police shootings, or other serious police misconduct.

Geographic Scope

• Budge and Heipt is based in Seattle, Washington.
• The firm accepts federal civil rights cases from across the United States.
• The firm has handled cases in federal district courts in Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Hawaii, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, Ohio, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana, and other states.

The firm focuses on serious, complex civil rights cases rather than high-volume or minor claims.

Ask anyway — the agent will say plainly that it is not published rather than guess.