Profile of top Seattle lawyer accused of rape

A Seattle lawyer who wrote a book on preparing for a trial, is facing his own criminal case after being arrested and accused of four rapes at two massage businesses.

A judge this afternoon set bail at $3 million for 47-year-old attorney Danford Grant. He’ll answer the charges in court later this week.

Monday night Seattle police arrested Grant after he returned to a Ballard-area massage clinic where he allegedly sexually assaulted an employee at knifepoint on a prior visit.

Prosecutors say Grant was a regular customer at the Carnation Massage Clinic. Employees called police and attempted to detain him. Talking with an employee tonight, she would only describe the crime as “terrifying.”

Grant is also a suspect in a rape that took place in August at a Bellevue massage business.

Photos: Linkedin profile pic of Danford Grant (left) and Bellevue PD sketch of suspected rapist

Grant is a partner at the Seattle law firm Bailey Grant Onsager. The firm’s three named shareholders are Darrin Bailey, Danford Grant, and David Onsager.

The law office’s bio for Grant indicates he has “successfully tried over a dozen cases and obtained favorable settlements or pre-trial judgments in countless others.” He’s argued before the Washington Court of Appeals, the Washington Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

A search of cases finds he’s represented an employee who sued Hewlett-Packard for discrimination. He’s also argued cases involving pregnancy discrimination in the workplace and employees who wanted to get out of non-compete contracts.

He’s a 1996 UW grad and has a law degree from the University of Kansas. He was listed as a “rising star” in Washington Law and Politics Magazine 2005 and 2007.

Grant worked in the Seattle City Attorney’s office, on employee litigation cases, from 1996 until 2000.

He has a wife and three kids. One of his North Seattle neighbors says he “can’t believe” the attorney he knows might be a sex criminal.

By LINDA THOMAS