In religion class, where most students chose heartwarming essay topics, Henein argued the merits of abortion and premarital sex. You get elected, and your next priority is to get ready to run for re-election for the next four years, or whatever your term is. But while Ghomeshis on-air charm may have carried him to the loftiest reaches of the CBC only to be exposed as a shaman artful mask concealing an alleged mean streakHenein seems to have gone out of her way to cultivate a forbidding persona. When the Supreme Court ruled against them, she took it hard. Ever since Ghomeshi pleaded not guilty to seven counts of sexual assault and one of choking, Henein has put a gag on his dulcet public tones. Its where theyre getting their votes. As one of the most respected and feared criminal lawyers in the country, she has become not only his voice but his last best hope against the possibility of a life sentence in prison. Here are the highlights: She rejects the idea that she betrayed women, I respect their right to say it. [2] She is a partner of Henein Hutchison LLP, a law firm in Toronto. On Tuesday night, Priscilla Presley and her daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, sat side by side at their table at the Golden Globes and watched with emotion as Austin Butler won an award . Marie defended Gerald Regan who was accused of sexual-misconduct charges in 1998. Five of her associates are former Supreme Court clerks, including rising star Matthew Gourlay, who spent a year on the staff of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and was married in her Ottawa living room. Maybe, she mused, well-meaning efforts aimed at helping women find work-life balance were instead signalling that, unlike men, they had to choose between work and family life; they couldnt have both. The fourth she will take on in a separate trial scheduled for next June. When she returned, there was no opening waiting at his firm. Those records are ostensibly off-limits under Section 278 of the Criminal Code, a companion amendment to the vaunted rape shield provisions that prohibit a defence lawyer from questioning a sexual assault complainant about her past sexual history. Thats not a tiny mole. Lets come back to my first question about your career choices, and the path that they put you on. In its senior ranks, there were only a handful of women left. You can find part one, detailing her early career, here. Danielle Robitaille, a former dancer, helped choreograph every move in the cross examinations. In some of the commentary on the Ghomeshi case, it seems as if Henein too is on trial. We can listen, we can make decisions, and we can change minds. Whats astounding with me, which is particularly concerningits not the personal part of it, I really dont care if people like meis what are they objecting to? Shes positioned herself to be the go-to lawyer for rich and famous people in trouble., Not that branding brought Ghomeshi to Heneins doorstep. I think that has done a real disservice to our political institutions because we completely lack the strength of leadership. I dont think any other woman could get away with it.. When she argued the appeal of Marcia Dooley, convicted of murdering her seven-year-old stepson, Randal, in what the judge called Canadas worst case of child abuse, Henein says she felt it was an obligationone of those cases where youre really at your last kick at the can. Still, her kids occasionally pay the price for such a caseload, bridling against her hypervigilance. Its a view that the public is stupid, and that if you dont talk to them and engage with them, that if you try to convince them of your view about what is good for the country that they will not be receptive to it, that they cant understand. Its astounding. I had a mother who was angry at how women were treated in her culture, Henein says. [4] After graduating, Henein articled under noted criminal defence lawyer Edward Greenspan. In a forthcoming paper called Whack No More, University of Windsor professor David Tanovich calls for a change in legal education that will eventually make such defence strategies socially unacceptable. Its not my area, but if I were a leader, Id want to make sure the public understands whats at stake and why youre making the decisions youre making. I want her to be Marie Henein. Henein was born in Cairo, Egypt, to Lebanese Maronite parents. It was a constant inquiry: Where are you from? She just tells you the hard facts, he says. On one blog, Osgoode Hall professor Susan Drummond argues that criminal lawyers not only have a duty to their clients, they also have a larger duty to the justice system as a whole; by whacking the complainant in sexual assault cases, she says, they threaten to bring the entire system into disrepute. They had one son: Peder Hafureng (Hafra) Classon. In those years, one sidekick provided distraction, her mothers youngest brother, Sami. The daughter of Maronite Christians, she was born in Cairo, then a bustling cosmopolitan hub, where Egyptian strongman Gamal Abdel Nasser had banished the Muslim Brotherhood, and upper-middle-class women like her mother felt free to dress like Betty Draper. Heneins courtroom skills have since been recognized by the American College of Trial Lawyers, an exclusive association that has invited only 365 Canadians to join its 5,700-member ranks. To better understand his transmission troubles, she even took lessons in driving a stick shift. A slash of scarlet lipstick hints at her sense of showmanship, and the brisk clip of her black patent stilettos leaves no doubt about her flinty reputation. Not the way you might be thinking, Henein replied. Could the Bryant case serve as a template for Ghomeshis defence? There isnt. Henein has no patience for questions about how she managed it all. When the witness looked nonplussed, Henein flourished medical records revealing that, after a hernia operation, Frost was left with a two-inch-by-two-inch plum-sized sac of blood that appears like a third testicle, as she told the cringing courtroom. Thats extraordinary to me. Henein hired an advertising agency to promote her firm, Henein Hutchinson. Its wrong. Other women lawyers report that Henein has been quick to make time whenever theyve turned to her for advice. I cant focus on that. Along the way, she was won a reputation as the ultimate lawyers lawyer. Lawyer Marie has handled his case. We dont need our intake of information constantly curated and censored. I mean, they cant pass nationalized daycare effectively in Canada. St. Joseph Communications uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. I cannot bring you back to the day you sat at home and you were not charged., Read our full coverage of the Jian Ghomeshi trial, Related: When they took on the appeal of Robert Latimer, the Saskatchewan farmer convicted of murdering his severely disabled daughter, Henein prepared the factums, but it was Greenspan who made the arguments in a case billed as a test of the countrys euthanasia laws. While most legal firms opt for the reassuring patina of wood panelling and landscapes, Heneins stark private office features a giant photo of a voodoo doctor named Baron Samedi strutting gleefully through a New Orleans cemetery in top hat and skull mask. Toronto criminal defence attorney Marie Henein has broken her silence about the highest profile case of her 25-year career the trial of former CBC broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi. Now my dad can relax, she laughs. A year later, their wedding at the Art Gallery of Ontario was catered by their friend Susur Lee. Marie Henein is one of Canada's best lawyers, not because she's ruthless or cunning, but because she has a passion and love for the rule of law. The Hub is a project of the Centre for Civic Engagement and Hub Canada Media. For me, it was standing up for people.. [5], In 2008, Henein defended hockey agent David Frost, who was acquitted of the charges of sexual exploitation. Reproduction in whole or in part strictly prohibited. Instead, Henein decided to show her hand, behind closed doors, to special prosecutor Richard Peck, who had been brought in from Vancouver to avoid any conflict of interest. How can you make decisions that will alienate certain portions of the population, or that certain portions of the population initially wont understand or wont support? You think of how the Charter was brought about. We wouldnt get it. As Anthony Moustacalis, president of the Criminal Lawyers Association, points out, Theres traditionally been a macho culture of wanting a tough guy to fight for you.. Thats not the way it works. At the CLAs first womens conference in Ottawa last spring, Henein doled out helpful hints to young lawyers on how to build their careers, but Jessyca Greenwood, a 31-year-old with her own Toronto firm, was puzzled that Henein never once mentioned the problem that confounded Greenwood daily: how to manage her fledgling practice while raising two toddlers. This conversation has been revised and edited for length and clarity. This case was her first case in her own firm. But these days, questions about the tactics Henein will wield in defending Ghomeshi are also being raised by some legal scholars. Considering her year of birth, Marie Henein is at the age of 52 years old as of 2018. Frost was charged with four counts of sexual exploitation, allegedly having manipulated his teenage players on the Quinte Hawks into threesomes a decade earlier. She polished it off in record timean early demonstration of her skill at synthesizing vast quantities of complex material. The Shoe Project MEDIA ADVISORY. Michael Bryant recalls Henein pausing in mid-conference whenever one of her boys called, instantly transformed from merciless inquisitor to solicitous major domo solving a domestic crisis. The job that Im doing is part of the justice system. My son calls me the Director of Funland Security, she says. Her brother Peter Henein is a lawyer with the law firm Waddell Phillips Professional Corporation. sat down with CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge, Ghomeshi trial: Everything wrong with sexual assault law, In their words: Protestors on the Ghomeshi trial. She looks awesome in her black dress and short black colored hair. With footage from every surveillance camera along Bloor Street West, Henein hired an expert video analyst to recreate his fateful drive. It doesnt hurt to be a woman., Still, Ghomeshi had not yet retained Henein on the night of the Criminal Lawyers Association gala last October, when she took to the stage of the Ritz-Carlton with a one-liner that lit up the Twittersphere. Armed with two prestigious degrees, Henein found herself unemployed. Marie Henein, defence attorney for former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi after a court appearance to set another date. SEAN SPEER: Your response to that question reminds me of something a colleague said of you. degree in 1991. During her young age, her family moved to Lebanon and later to Vancouver. All she knew about the profession she had gleaned from reading about Eddie Greenspan, the superstar defender whose CBC series, The Scales of Justice, recapped famous trials in a way that made criminal law seem both noble and enthralling. Toronto criminal defence attorney Marie Henein has broken her silence about the highest profile case of her 25-year career the trial of former CBC broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi. Ms. Henein is the Past President of The Advocates' Society (2010-2011). [18] She is married to Glen Jennings, a lawyer who heads the white collar defence and investigations group at the law firm Gowlings. We all fail, we all lose. Marie Henein Net Worth & Basic source of earning is being a successful Canadian Lawyer. Every day her father called worrying how anyone would know shed hung out her shingle. TORONTO (November 3, 2022) Canadian charity The Shoe Project has launched its annual online auction and among the 50+ items up for grabs are Louboutin and Yves Saint Laurent shoes from prominent litigator, Marie Henein. Thanks, Marie, for this fascinating conversation, and congratulations on the book. In this final instalment of our interview, editor-at-large Sean Speer speaks with Henein about being disinvited from high schools and university campuses and the chronic lack . She pushed herself through her kids younger years, working at home virtually non-stop through her maternity leaves. It wasnt the public crying out for it. Because if thats what were doing, then youve got to think back when certain peoplewho we would now say were very much on the right side of historywould have been precluded because their views were more marginal views. Jian Ghomeshi makes his way through a mob of media with his lawyer Marie Henein at a Toronto court on November 26, 2014. She is associated with a law firm named Henein Hutchison LLP. She was headstrong, very tough, he says, and she did not wilt under pressure., That grit and an impressive academic record finally won her an articling slot with Greenspans firm. She is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is one of the founders of the Court of Appeal's Appellate Duty Counsel Program. Its all part of the bullshit Cinderella story. She dishes out the same tough-love brand of feminism in speeches and articles, blaming Martha Stewart and her ilk for their toxic message of perfectionism. At 50, she looks a decade younger, a vision in black chic perched on $1,500 leopard-patterned Louis Vuitton pumps. It was audacious and it was led based on a fundamental belief that we as a country needed this. The former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi was charged with sexual assault. The result was a photo shoot that might have been orchestrated by Vanity Fair. model to clear surgical backlog, Ontario's health-care reforms are a sign of Left-Right policy convergence. I dont respect their opinion or agree with it. Now she intends to do the same for Jian Ghomeshi, even if it. And then not allowing students to engage with people. "[6], In 1998, with Greenspan, Henein defended former Nova Scotia premier Gerald Regan on sexual-misconduct charges. In an old snapshot, she is standing on the familys apartment balcony at the age of four, dressed up by him in her mothers black lace cocktail gown, curls framing a grave cherubic face that he loved to paint with lipstick and eyeshadow. We are prepared to believe most things as long as they align with our preconceptions or predispositions.". She has carved out a lucrative niche defending doctors and other professionals before their regulatory bodies. Two years ago when Scott Hutchison, a respected former crown attorney, joined her as a named partner, she hired an advertising agency to design a campaign that would show Henein Hutchison was no ordinary criminal law firm. She can think five, six, 10 moves down the chess game.. When Evelyns parents promptly immigrated to Toronto, she begged her husband to join them, but he balked at another move. I dont know much, but I have woken up a little bit as time has gone on. She recalls being singled out in her Catholic grade school, St. Leonards, and called ugly names. Breaking for dinner, they would reconvene at her house and work until 2 or 3 a.m., occasionally working in their pyjamas. I dont feel the need to justify myself.She went further to say theres no way a man would be seen in the same light. Crown attorney Michael Callaghan announces he is dropping two of the seven sexual assault charges, which, he admits, had no reasonable prospect of conviction. I think its a lot of weak people leading. Poster Girl. Then, homing in on a pivotal 28 secondslater the title of Bryants memoirshe set about dissecting every millisecond in that time frame. None of it deals with making difficult decisions. What does it say about the wrongful convictions that have happened so many times in Canada, and certainly in the United States? By Sarah Boesveld At a two-day hearing in October that was closed to the press, Henein was expected to argue one of the most contentious aspects of the Ghomeshi case: why the court should give her access to third-party records that may contain personal information about his accusers, including their medical and psychotherapy histories. At the end of her articling stint, he offered her a permanent job, but she had already been accepted to the master of laws program at Columbia University in New York. After briefly moving to Vancouver, then less than a year later to Lebanon, the family finally settled in Toronto when Marie was four years old. She is a partner of Henein Hutchison LLP, a law firm in Toronto. Youve got to do that in a way that doesnt make you look like a bully or an ogre, points out Osgoode Hall professor Alan Young. Chris So/Toronto Star/Getty Images. Marie Henein, criminal defence lawyer for Jian Ghomeshi. These women better not be lying, he says of the complainants in the case, because if they are, Marie will crack em open and expose them.. But in Grade 12, when she and Nemchin were co-editors of the student paper, The Echo, her iconoclasm proved too much for the principal. A post shared by George Pimentel (@georgepimentel1) on Nov 13, 2015 at 1:20am PST. Celebs Wiki Marie Henein fans also viewed: Philip McHarris Enako Francisco Almeida Lakshmi Mittal George Nelson Matt the Knife Cory Schneider Nicky Verstappen Bryan Llenas Sonia Fergina Citra Philip McHarris Enako Were not stupid. Bio, Age, Wife, Net worth and Family, Is Willy Moon still Married? We dont want that., Related:Exclusive: Lucy DeCoutere on the Ghomeshi disaster, Shehas an unwavering belief in the Canadianjustice system. I would not have seen it in any other context, so it was extremely eye-opening to me. Another case in 2008 of hockey agent David Frost, Henein defended him by eliminating the charges of sexual exploitation that he was accused. She grabbed her (LL.M.) Marie Henein is a lawyer and senior partner with Henein Hutchison. In the documents, Normans lawyer Marie Henein points to statements federal bureaucrats made to the RCMP. What does it say about the lawyers that are standing beside victims? She said, Marie, really at her core, believes in our institutions.. We were all precocious and wouldnt take any shit., In school and out, they became inseparable, too nerdy for drinking, drugs or dates, but priding themselves on their intellectual sophistication. For promoting and raising the popularity of the firm, an advertising agency was hired. But when you are in Ottawa, which again, was like a foreign country to me, inside baseball is palpable. But to disinvite someone because you feel that a high school or university student cant bear a discussion about the justice system, and what a defence lawyers role is, is something out of Brave New World. Then in the summer before she started law school, he arrived back home gravely ill. She was at his side when he was diagnosed with one of the citys first cases of full-blown AIDS. What are your reflections from these experiences? Todays Dialogue is part two of The Hubs conversation with Marie Henein, a prominent criminal defence lawyer and author of a new memoir, Nothing but the Truth. To an onlooker, that declaration from a lawyer whose cross-examinations have been compared to a machete has the distinct ring of a threat. MARIE HENEIN: Thank you for speaking with me. Within the year, she was back at their firm as a junior associate. from there. Marie Henein is one of Canada's top criminal defence lawyers, and now a household name after she successfully defended Jian Ghomeshi in his criminal trial earlier this year. Sign up for FREE and receiveThe Hubsweekly email newsletter. She was 54. That success is all the more remarkable in a branch of the bar where, historically, women have not been welcomed by either their colleagues or their clients. If I dress this way, its because it amuses me, she shrugs. You sort of play to your base, and you ignore everything else, and you do nothing that will upset your ability to get re-elected. During one forum nearly two decades ago, she slyly noted that, although a complainants sexual and medical histories may be technically inadmissible, in a trial before a judge alone, not a juryas Ghomeshis will bethere was no harm in arguing for their relevance anyway. Being with the firm, Marie has fought numerous criminal cases and has been able to make her established as one of the most reputed, respected and fearless lawyers in the city. And it sure isnt what I think leadership means. It was controversial, it was difficult, and it was correct. Heneins brother, who was then in law school after a detour into stand-up comedy, helped her rehearse her cross-examinations and showed up in court to watch the results. I cant talk about it, she says, fighting off tears. Its the formula Henein herself followed, juggling appeals for child porn cases with her chauffeuring duties as a soccer mom. No framed degrees or family photos mar the pristine sleekness of the lobby. By Marci McDonald | Photography by Markian Lozowchuk | October 20, 2015. Its a reaction to the idea that you have to be out there, and just be liked; that as a politician your celebrity is more important than your leadership. And what can we do to reinvigorate a genuine commitment to intellectual diversity, free ideas, and free exchange? You would never go to a surgeon and ask them, How comfortable are you [to] operate on me? You expect them to do the job, Henein said. Our very best stories, recipes, style and shopping tips, horoscopes and special offers. I mean, thats what I do for a living: you go and you make your case and you persuade. For a glimpse into her modus operandi, her 2008 defence of former minor league hockey coach Dave Frost is revealing. Marie Henein (born 1966) is a Canadian criminal defence lawyer. Your job as a leader is to get information out to the public to convey to people why youre making the decisions that youre making and to bring them along with you. Together they came up with the idea of offering their services, pro bono, to prisoners like him who had run out of legal options. Five months following her son's death, on Dec. 29, 2020, Presley sold the home for $2 million. It only took one look at what was in our lunch boxes to see we werent like the other kids, he says. In hers, Bryant was not the cocky aggressor; he was the unwitting victim of a troubled man who had clashed with drivers before. On one wall, a sculpture in white neon script spells out what may well be her personal credo, No Guts, No Glory. Emerging to greet me, all smiles and self-deprecation, Henein could be mistaken for some affable twin of the daunting figure I have just witnessed in court. She developed an interest in the law field and was active, energetic and tactful from her early days. At times, Frost was frustrated that Henein refrained from going directly for the jugular, but she insisted on what he calls the slow burn. When he chafed at her obsession with what seemed like some minor detail, she retorted that no detail was too smallor, as it turned out, too lurid. When Danielle Robitaille joined the practice seven years ago, she was so terrified she might incur Heneins wrath during their first courtroom appearance that she was drenched in sweat under her robes. When Bryant emerged from custody charged with dangerous driving causing death and criminal negligence causing death, friends in the legal community rushed to recommend lawyers. My view is that you should torture yourself if you lost, because the stakes are so high, she says. Related: Witness 1: What I wish Id known before testifying in the Ghomeshi trial, She had some choice words for prominent critics. Where once the legal system seemed stacked against women who dared to blow the whistle on sexual assaulttheir motives suspect, their past sex lives fair gamethere has been a sharp shift in the culture. We are ready, she tells Justice Rebecca Rutherford. For months, she and her first associate, Jennifer Gleitman, sifted through volumes of witness statements, charting the inconsistencies, often with Heneins son playing on the floor. SEAN SPEER: Thats great. Henein Hutchison LLP 34 The former Eddie Greenspan protge and current lawyer for Jian Ghomeshi runs the hottest criminal defence firm in Toronto. Nor was he surprised to hear Ghomeshi had hired her. To make her dreams come true, she went to Osgoode Hall Law School and completed her Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B.) And what strikes you about this world of insiderism? There was nothing else I wanted to do that would interfere with that, she says. But there are actually economic arguments to be made to the public to say, Look if we do not move and develop these sectors and technologies, we will lose financially. And, as you say, our positioning in the world is going to be significantly impacted. Ontario getting hundreds of millions in equalization means the program isn't serving its purpose, The fuss over Prince Harrys memoir is, absurdly, a sign the monarchy is doing its job, Crown corporation CEOs are underpaid, actually, Ontario looks to private clinics and the B.C. Tracking down the callers, she raced off to take their accounts herselfa hands-on engagement that astonished Bryant. Like Greenspan, she sees her role as not to judge the guilt or innocence of the accused, but to ensure that legal truth prevails. Frost can still recall Henein pacing the courtroom, snapping those folders with a menacing crack, swooping in whenever a female witness tried to change her story. "[11][12], In November 2014, former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi hired Henein to defend him. Henein has previously defended. I dont think that the public sees exactly what is going on. Thats all I heard: Theres nothing a man can do that you cant. , Her mother found a job in a bank while her father toiled 12 hours a day, seven days a week at the succession of pharmacies he owned, but Henein was far from alone. The Canadian lawyer Marie Henein has an average height and possesses an appealing personality. We represent people who have committed heinous actsacts of violence, acts of depravity, acts of cruelty, she quipped. For your client, its his life., Of all her cases with Greenspan, the biggest media sensation was the 1998 trial of former Nova Scotia premier Gerald Regan, charged with 18 counts of sexual assault. So, youre disinviting me because you dont like the job that I do in the justice system? Greenspan, who had two daughters, would suppress a grin at Heneins unvarnished utterances and occasional F-bombs. ADVERTISEMENT Diana Davison Montreal QC She didnt take the case for publicity and the scrutiny has been tough for her and for her client, The profile and nature of it didnt influence you at all? Mansbridge asked. Now, as head of the white-collar crime practice at Gowlings, Jennings gamely co-ordinates his schedule to help raise their sons, aged 10 and 15. A graduate of York University's Osgoode Hall Law School and Columbia University, Henein worked for Edward Greenspan, arguably the best-known defence lawyer in Canada, who has represented well-known defendants such as Robert Latimer, Garth Drabinsky and Conrad Black, The Globe and Mail reported. They bonded immediately as brainy, wisecracking outsiders, all three regularly annexing the top marks in their class. Weiz had been fingered by two others as the one who had delivered the fatal blow, but Henein zeroed in on the quicksand of their shifting accounts. She didn't get where she is by pedigree or privilege, she got there by being good at her job. She dressed in an eccentric punky way that made it clear she was not like other students, he recalls. Poised amid her team in a killer black sheath by Victoria Beckham, Henein stares into the camera with insouciant defiance, the incarnation of her calculated corporate image: hip, upscale and fearless. That nomadic preamble played a key role in shaping her. Wherever they lived, from their first apartment in Thorncliffe Park to the stolid brown brick house they bought in the farthest reaches of North York, the Heneins were never more than a few doors, or a few blocks, from her maternal grandmother, the matriarch of the family, who became her chief companion and babysitter. After its operation, it was accompanied by the former crown attorney Scott Hutchison and therefore the law firm was renamed as Henein Hutchinson LLP. Im going to focus a moment on criminal justice. [19], Canadian criminal defence lawyer (born 1966), Wente, Margaret. It was like a movie, he says. By the time he hired Henein, it had become apparent that his fate would rest on skewering the women lining up to accuse him. Our human nature makes us sitting ducks. Thats one of her assets. Heneins passion for the law has also earned her the esteemand occasional indulgenceof the judiciary. Jan 18, 2023 at 1:46 pm. Theyre defence lawyers; theyre not prosecutors. I was becoming like a surly teenager. Greenspan felt sideswipedit was a breach that would take time to mendand for months after her departure, whenever a crisis came up, he would storm through the office fuming, Where the hell is Marie?. [7][10], In 2011 Henein's client John Magno received a twelve-year sentence in connection with an arson resulting in a death and one of the largest fires in Toronto's history "forcing the evacuation of 50 nearby homes on Danforth Avenue and requiring the services of more than 170 firefighters. In those days, Henein had never met an actual lawyer. On the sprawling campus of St. Josephs Morrow Park, a Catholic girls high school on Bayview south of Steeles, Henein met the two classmates who remain her best friends today, Laura Nemchin and Rita Mason, both of whom are now also lawyers. [5], She was later rehired at Edward Greenspan's firm after working with his partner, Marc Rosenberg. Her achievement can be judged by The National Post which mentioned her as the most high profile Canadian criminal defense lawyer. Even growing up in a neighbourhood populated largely by other immigrants, most from Italy, Henein and her kid brother, Peter, felt they didnt quite belong. She made no secret of the fact she was star-struck, announcing to a friend in her freshman year at the University of Toronto that she intended to work with Greenspan. You'll get our weekly newsletter featuring The Hubs thought-provoking insights and analysis of Canadian policy issues and in-depth interviews with the worlds sharpest minds and thinkers. While some lawyers shrug off their defeats, Henein has been known to chew on hers for years, stubbornly plotting appeals. We were not the pretty, popular girls, Henein says. Asked how theyve managed to juggle two high-octane careers, Henein paraphrases U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Because I have a partner who is as supportive of my career as he is of his., With Greenspan, Heneins reputation within the legal community flourished, but even after he made her a name partner in 1998, she was always his second chair at the defence table, an afterthought in the media coverage of his biggest trials. Here in a cramped corridor where harried lawyers dart into the small hearing rooms lining each wall, a gaggle of journalists waits for the next chapter in a saga that the docket lists as R. v. J. G.: the Queen versus Jian Ghomeshi. A Toronto doctor named Marvin Sazant was accused of forcing sex repeatedly for young boys by tying them. She convinced the other to mark all the locations on a crime scene diagram where he had misled police while she spat out the words, Lie, lie, lie, in a relentless tattoo. Henein was a polarizing figure in the coverage of this trial, Mansbridge said, before asking about her comfort level with that. Hiring her as his research assistant, he concluded she was a natural for that wing of the bar where bravado counted for more than good grades. But at 35, Robitaille is now a partner, crediting Henein with giving her space to shine, complete with her own caseload and press clips. 'Discomfort is a home of sorts to me': An excerpt from Marie Henein's new memoir, Nothing but the Truth Marie Henein Special to The Globe and Mail Published September 25, 2021 Updated. I understand that the public says, Well, were opposed in principle. Whatever, if youre opposed in principle. We can sustain conversation and we can withstand opposite views. Although he had to remortgage his house and sell his boat and his Jet Skis to pay nearly $200,000 in legal fees$5,000 a day for the two-week trial alonehe has no regrets. I think that politicians have forgotten that their role is to lead, no matter what part of the political spectrum youre on. [14] The trial lasted eight days. Marie Henein (born 1966)[1] is a Canadian criminal defence lawyer. When Marie was four years old, her family settled in Toronto. For the Liberals, its being tougher on the crimes that they think the public wants to hear theyre tough on. Required fields are marked *. A Toronto based criminal lawyer Marie Henein was born in 1966. Wikipedia and some other popular wiki sites have presented Maries bio on their web pages. MARIE HENEIN: Well, as a criminal lawyer, youre always an outsider. It was right out of Twelve Angry Men, Peter Henein recalls. Youre very dark, she says. Its not like shes this rabid pit bull, says Danielle Robitaille, her right hand on the Ghomeshi file. degree in the year 1991 and entered the bar in 1992. I wouldnt put it past her, says one, asking for anonymity. Only 10 years older, he was more best friend than uncle and, she says, one of the great loves of my life. Flamboyant, wildly creative and gaywhich no one in their devout Catholic family wanted to acknowledgehe was obsessed with fashion and treated her as his model and muse. Its so outrageous and its so uninformed. Bio, Wedding, Husband, Kids and Facts, Is Roger Clinton Jr. Married? Marie Henein is the smartest, toughest, most sought-after defence lawyer in the city. Ghomeshi trial: Everything wrong with sexual assault law The Cult of Jian: His life as an outcast, whos standing by him, and why hes sure hell walk, Order in the Court: Karines, a brunch spot inside Village by the Grange with a sort-of-secret Armenian menu, Rental of the Week: $7,500 for a two-floor Victorian unit in the Annex with a sparkling staircase, Condo of the Week: $3.3 million for a Yorkville corner unit with three balconies, Whats on the menu at Paradise Grapevine, Geary Avenues new winery and rotisserie, Ring in the Lunar New Year with special menus from these Toronto restaurants. Marie is also contributing as the co-editor of Martins Related Criminal Statutes, Martins Criminal Code and Martins Annual Criminal Practice. But I dont like unfair fights. Mansbridge later read out three critical social media comments as the camera zoomed in on her face. She is known for being the most popular sought-after defense lawyer in the country. Women need to be told to stay in the profession, she says. named one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada by the Womens Executive Network. The battlefield has moved from landmines to the minds of citizens. She was married four times and had four children. "Maybe some of these people at D.C.F., they . Court documents raise new questions about Brison's involvement in case of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman View page. [4] She then attended Columbia Law School, and received her Master of Laws (LL.M.) In 1982, Ghomeshis memoir of growing up as the child of Iranian immigrants in the citys northern suburbs, he writes poignantly of life as an outsider, acutely aware that his skin was not an acceptable shade of pale. Its not a matter of my comfort level. Those statistics echo a larger crisis in the profession: although women still make up more than half of all law school graduates, an alarming number are cashing out after only five to seven years in private practice, just when their careers ought to be approaching liftoff. In 1998, she became the partner of the firm but she left it in 2002 in order to establish her own firm named Henein and Associates. Her supportive father named Joseph was employed at the pharmacy. With 30 appellate criminal lawyers on a volunteer roster that Henein still runs out of her office, the program has won 20 per cent of the 100 appeals a year it argues for some of the most marginalized prisoners in the province, many of them Aboriginal people or those battling mental health issues. Though the appeal was denied by the Supreme Court, her client has become free for the verdict of not being guilty. I have not. He hired Marie to represent him in the court and defend him against the charges he was accused of. Youve got the Conservatives who are so opposed [to climate change], its pitched as an election issue. We just dont have those sorts of leaders. But one of the things that Ive often discussed with her is, quite simply, the economics of failing to engage in climate change and technology and why politicians discuss environmental issues as a moral value rather than an economic one. Marie Havrenne Hafra . Theres no question in my mind. Her phone promptly started ringing, and it hasnt stopped. [5], Henein represented Marvin Sazant, a Toronto doctor accused of tying up several young boys and repeatedly forcing sex on them. [15] On 24 March 2016, the judge delivered the verdict. Its uneducated, and its unnecessary. Another measure of her statureand her zealous networking skillswas her election five years ago as president of the Advocates Society, arguably the toniest of this countrys legal organizations. Henein refuses to discuss the case, but in interviews, her associates seem intent on underlining how often she has spared clients the ignominy and expense of a courtroom ordeal. When a politician weighs in, thats a little bit more concerning to me because youre a person who should be more knowledgeable about what youre commenting on, Henein said. For Henein, the whole debate is irrelevant, an utter waste of time. Its not out of the question. Theyre disinviting me because they dont like my job. It just makes me rear up a little bit more because I dont like unfair play. Heneins brother, Peter, now an intellectual property lawyer at Cassels Brock, sees the impact of that loss today. Then her private investigator discovered evidence on Facebook, including a photo, that showed, contrary to the womens assertions, they were so close they had even vacationed together. I would have quit this trial a long time ago if I was listening and waiting for peoples approval, she responded. Updated March 30, 2016. Its wrong to treat your citizens that way. We are unable to identify her social media profile and seems like Marie doesnt have spare time to be there. According to the narrative Henein developed for the case, Frosts accusers were small-town girls, once besotted with his visiting players, who were now colluding to spin accusations they hoped would bring them a payoff. With a two-year-old at home, she and Jennings had just bought a house in Forest Hill they could ill afford. She has also been serving in the Canadian Criminal Cases as its Associate Editor. Their courtship, wedged between staggering workloads, was spent sampling the citys hottest new restaurants, an enthusiasm Henein had caught from Greenspan. But Perry Mason would have saved his big reveal for a courtroom ambush. A firm believer in crafting a narrative for each defence, Henein threw herself into fleshing out a storyline that was at odds with the one unfolding in the media. Heneins sharpest dig was in response to political and legal figures who quickly supported social media campaigns including #IBelieveSurvivors. [5] The firm later was renamed as Henein Hutchinson LLP after former crown attorney Scott Hutchison joined the firm as a named partner. [2] She is a partner of Henein Hutchison LLP, a law firm in Toronto . I was in his face all the time, saying, I want to do more. , Henein split her time between Greenspan and Rosenberg, whose personalities and practices were a study in contrasts. Theres a difference between being obnoxious, offensive, insulting, racist or sexist, and having a view that is a different view about society, law, or anything. Very bold. But after reinvestigating her new witnesses, he came to trust her assessments. Marie Henein has a net worth of $5.00 million (Estimated) which she earned from her occupation as Lawyer. There really is no stone left unturned, says Gleitman, who is now an assistant Crown attorney. The kids will be okay.. Who do you think is standing there? For example, where your riding happens to be, and whats at issue at that particular year. Copyright 2023 St. Joseph Communications. That happens not just in this case, but each and every single day.thats something we should be extraordinarily proud of. Hashtag I believe is not a legal principle, nor should it ever be, Henein said, adding presumptive belief is a damaging concept in general. Today's Dialogue is part two of The Hub's conversation with Marie Henein, a prominent criminal defence lawyer and author of a new memoir, Nothing but the Truth. Without uttering a word, Marie Henein commands the room. SEAN SPEER: You mentioned, in an earlier answer, issues around communication and speech engagements. Central to defence lawyer Marie Henein's well-crafted imagery is the . None of it deals with Law Reform Commissions. A diamond-encrusted serpent ring is her only jewellery, slithering up one ornately manicured finger, each opaline nail inscribed with a delicate black deco design. It would influence me not to take it at all, actually., The amount of scrutiny has been extraordinary and crushing for Ghomeshi, she said. At first glance, the prospects for Daniel Weiz looked grim. A post shared by Ankie D. (@ankiidankii) on Feb 10, 2016 at 11:18am PST. When a male teacher she expected to defend them instead urged them to capitulate, she castigated him for failing to uphold the ideals he extolled in class. The younger Presley, who passed away on Jan. 12 after suffering cardiac arrest, is survived by her twin daughters, Harper and Finely Lockwood, 14, and daughter, Riley Keough, 33. It is pretty significant that in one of the highest profile cases, in one of the cases where everybody had an opinion, sitting on their couch, tweeting it out in 140 characters or less, where people expressed opinions not having heard a word of evidence, that you knew that you could walk into court and that there would be an impartial person that would decide on the evidence, she said. May Either her new evidence would convince Peck the case was unwinnable and he would drop the charges, or he would proceed to trial anyway, having seen her trump card. Darren Calabrese/THE CANADIAN PRESS. I know who I am, I know what my beliefs are. Within months, he was dead. First of all, it infantilizes everybody. I cant believe you did this, he roared. 2023. That was her mantra when I was growing up: You must never, ever depend on a man for anything, she says. The Supreme Court of Canada denied Regan's appeal, but he was ultimately acquitted of all charges. Pure theatre.. It is not the medium that is at fault it is the consumer. They turn out to be just one pair from a collection so notorious that Ontarios former chief justice Warren Winkler once ribbed her, So are you going to buy a car or a new pair of shoes? Even with the benefit of those four-inch heels, Henein seems tinier than she did in the courtroom, her hourglass figure whittled away by twice-weekly weight training sessions, her boyish bob and kohl-rimmed eyes lending her the air of a gamine. What really worries her is people like federal NDP leader and lawyer Thomas Mulcair hopping on this bandwagon with little regard for the evidence presented in the case. None of it deals with the over-incarceration, in Canada of Indigenous communities and, in the United States, of Black Americans. It was a pastime that would amuse them both for years. Before the trial opened, a judge stayed nine of the charges, and Henein and Greenspan went on to win Regans acquittal on the rest. And for me, it was the very first time in a 30-year career where I fully understood the power of the state against an accused person. A Toronto based criminal lawyer Marie Henein was born in 1966. It was time, she says. "[4] The National Post called her the "most high profile criminal defence lawyer in the country. A third testicle would be hard to miss., Seven years after his acquittal, Frost still speaks of Henein with wary awe. It was absolutely a gamble, Peck confirms from Vancouver. Marie Henein, Nothing But the Truth. Then just as suddenly, Ghomeshis lawyer strides up the centre aisle to the defence table, sweeping past in a stunning black dress and designer jacket like some exotic import from Suits. SEAN SPEER: One final question. Frost didnt have high hopes when Edelson, his original lawyer, steered him to Henein, but a couple of months after their first meeting, he walked into her office to find his legal chronicle laid out across her conference room. It would be devastating to anybody. Shes direct with her clients when advising them onthe impact a trial will have: You will never ever be the same again. Your email address will not be published. What do you think of the state of Canadian institutions in 2021 given that weve had legislatures sit infrequently, our courts have experienced significant delays, Charter rights have arguably been undermined, and, as you know through your work, the Canadian military is in great disarray? Occupying more than 5,400 square feet, the property is located in the guard-gated Calabasas Park . The truth is, I want to be Marie Henein. The perception of lawyers is that theyre hustlers, pulling the wool over peoples eyes, she says, but thats not good advocacy., While most criminal lawyers specialize in either trial or appeals, Henein is now equally adept at both, and colleagues have watched in disbelief as she addresses the Court of Appeal with a brashness few would dare. But we stood together. That relentless forensic workabove all the testimony she unearthed from drivers who had clashed with Sheppard days or even hours earlierturned the case in a plot twist worthy of Perry Mason. Its interesting what people see, she says. Henein represented Mark Norman during his trial for Breach of Trust, a charge that was eventually stayed on May 9, 2019. Bio, Age, Wife, Net worth, Nationality. Six, 10 moves down the chess game revised and edited for length and clarity ultimately acquitted of charges. Years after his acquittal, Frost still speaks of Henein Hutchison LLP, a law firm Phillips. The commentary on the Ghomeshi file at her house and work until 2 or 3 a.m. occasionally! Media comments marie henein sons the most high profile criminal defence lawyer ( born 1966 ) Wente! Occasional F-bombs what i do in the profession, she was not like other students, he says part... Just tells you the hard facts, is Willy Moon still Married and completed her of... 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