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Marie Henein

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Marie Henein
KC
Born1966 (age 57–58)
Cairo, Egypt
NationalityCanadian
Alma materOsgoode Hall Law School (LLB)
Columbia Law School (LLM)
Occupation(s)Criminal lawyer, defence barrister
Years active1992–present
SpouseGlen Jennings
Children2

Marie Therese Henein, KC (born 1966)[1] is a Canadian criminal defence lawyer.[2] She is a partner of Henein Hutchison Robitaille LLP, a law firm in Toronto.

Early life

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Henein was born in Cairo, Egypt, to a Lebanese father and an Egyptian mother. Her grandmother was Palestinian. Her father, Joseph Henein, worked at a pharmacy. 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.[3] She attended St. Joseph's Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School.[4]

Education

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Henein attended Osgoode Hall Law School, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree.[4] After graduating, Henein articled under noted criminal defence lawyer Edward Greenspan.[4] She then attended Columbia Law School, and received her Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in 1991.[5] Henein was called to the bar in 1992.[5]

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She was later rehired at Edward Greenspan's firm after working with his partner, Marc Rosenberg.[4] She eventually was named a partner of the firm in 1998.[4] In 2002, Henein left to open Henein and Associates.[5] The firm later was renamed as Henein Hutchison LLP after former crown attorney Scott Hutchison joined the firm as a named partner.[4]

Henein has developed a reputation in Toronto as one of the most "respected and feared criminal lawyers in the country."[4] The National Post called her the "most high profile criminal defence lawyer in the country."[3] In 2011, Canadian Lawyer magazine named her one of the "Top 25 Most Influential" saying she was "one of the most sought-after criminal lawyers in the country" and "a key go-to lawyer for high-profile accused in Toronto."[6]

Notable cases

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In 1998, with Greenspan, Henein defended former Nova Scotia premier Gerald Regan on sexual-misconduct charges. The Supreme Court of Canada denied Regan's appeal, but he was ultimately acquitted of all charges.[4][7]

In her first case at her own firm, Henein defended Daniel Weiz, who was one of the young men charged in the 1999 death by beating of Toronto teen Dmitri Baranovski. Weiz was acquitted of all charges.[5]

In 2008, Henein defended hockey agent David Frost, who was acquitted of the charges of sexual exploitation.[5]

Henein represented Marvin Sazant, a Toronto doctor accused of tying up several young boys and repeatedly forcing sex on them. In 2009, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario revoked Sazant's licence "concluding that in three of the four cases, the allegations had been proved".[8][9]

In 2009, Henein represented Bradley Harrison at the Supreme Court of Canada. The charges of possession of 35 kilograms of cocaine (worth about $4 million) were dropped.[5]

Henein represented former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant after he was charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death for dragging a man with his car causing his death after a collision when the cyclist he struck became enraged. On May 25, 2010, all charges against Bryant were withdrawn.[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."[11][12]

In November 2014, former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi hired Henein to defend him.[13][4] He was charged in four cases of sexual assault and one case of choking a woman. The first trial of Ghomeshi began on February 1, 2016.[14] The trial lasted eight days.[15] On 24 March 2016, the judge delivered the verdict. Ghomeshi was acquitted of all charges, on the basis that there was insufficient evidence to establish proof beyond a reasonable doubt.[16][17]

Henein represented Mark Norman during his trial for Breach of Trust, a charge that was eventually stayed on May 9, 2019.

In 2023, Henein represented Indigenous author Dawn Walker who was accused of parental abduction, forgery, and mischief. On November 2, 2023, Walker pleaded guilty to three of the charges against her. She was sentenced to a one-year conditional sentence in the community and 18 months’ probation. She also cannot have unsupervised visits with her son.[18]

Personal life

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Her brother Peter Henein, previously a lawyer with the law firm Waddell Phillips Professional Corporation,[19] is now a partner at HHR LLP.[20] She is married to Glen Jennings, a lawyer who heads the white collar defence and investigations group at the law firm Gowlings. They have two sons.[21]

References

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  1. ^ Wente, Margaret. "The Jian Ghomeshi Case: A System on Trial". In Globe and Mail. 26 March 2016. "At 50, Marie Henein is at the top of her game." p. F1
  2. ^ Campbell, Meagan (2019-06-21). "She's a master at winning the tough fights, but Marie Henein misses 'the good old days'". National Post. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  3. ^ a b Jen Gerson (26 November 2014), "'It is not my practice to litigate my cases in the media': Who is Jian Ghomeshi's lawyer Marie Henein?", National Post.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i McDonald, Marci (20 October 2015), "Meet Marie Henein, Jian Ghomeshi's lawyer", Toronto Life, retrieved 2016-02-14.
  5. ^ a b c d e f BACKGROUNDER: Criminal lawyer Marie Henein and her high profile cases. 680 News, November 4, 2014.
  6. ^ "The Top 25 Most Influential" Archived 2011-09-26 at the Wayback Machine. Canadian Lawyer, August 1, 2011.
  7. ^ a b Jill Colvin, Bryant fate in hands of 'lawyer's lawyer', Globe & Mail (September 5, 2009).
  8. ^ Doctor accused of sex abuse has licence revoked. The Globe and Mail, September 4, 2009.
  9. ^ Doctor who forced sex on boys loses licence[usurped]. Toronto Sun, September 5, 2009.
  10. ^ "Charges against Bryant in fatal crash withdrawn". CBC News. 2010-05-25. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
  11. ^ John Magno sentenced to 12 years in prison in fatal arson scheme. The Globe and Mail, September 23, 2011.
  12. ^ Crown seeks 10 years for Toronto man behind fatal east-end arson in 2001. The Globe and Mail, August 8, 2011.
  13. ^ Cohen, Sidney (November 5, 2014). "Jian Ghomeshi hires lawyer who defended ex-attorney general Michael Bryant". Toronto Star. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  14. ^ Gollom, Mark (February 1, 2016). "Jian Ghomeshi was 'punching me in the head, multiple times,' witness says". CBC News. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  15. ^ Houpt, Simon; White, Patrick. "The Jian Ghomeshi trial: What you missed in court". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  16. ^ Hasham, Alyshah; King, Robin Levinson (2016-03-24). "The former CBC Radio host pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual assault and one count of choking to overcome resistance". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  17. ^ "Jian Ghomeshi trial: Former CBC radio host found not guilty of all charges | Globalnews.ca".
  18. ^ "No time behind bars for woman who faked death, abducted son and fled country". Saskatoon. 2023-11-02. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  19. ^ "Waddell Phillips Announces New Partner Peter Henein", The Precedent A-List, 29 March 2022,
  20. ^ "HHR LLP is Pleased to Welcome Peter Henein as Partner", The Precedent A-List, 9 January 2023
  21. ^ Jacques Gallant, "Jian Ghomeshi lawyer Marie Henein doesn’t relish spotlight", Toronto Star, 13 February 2016.
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