High-profile criminal defence lawyer Marie Henein speaks her truth

Credit to Author: Vivien Fellegi| Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2022 13:24:24 +0000

Feeling like an outsider has given Egyptian-Lebanese-Canadian Marie Henein a unique perspective through which to see the world and the ability to think outside the box.

It’s the first day of kindergarten in 1970 for Marie Henein, and she is sobbing uncontrollably. Her beloved grandmother has just kissed the four-year-old goodbye after walking her to school. Unfamiliar English words come hurling at her: “Sit here,” “Do this.” But the recently arrived immigrant from Lebanon speaks only Arabic. “I didn’t understand a single word,” she recalls.  As her panic escalates, she begins screaming in Arabic, “I want my grandmother, I want my grandpa!” But no one knows what she’s saying. Henein feels utterly alone. “It was so scary,” she recalls.

Though today Henein has attained the highest echelon in her career as a criminal defence lawyer, she still feels like she doesn’t entirely fit in. She finds that her parents’ accents, her Middle Eastern palette, and her olive complexion all mark her as a foreigner.  “That sense of being an outsider…is something that has lived with me my entire life,” she says. Henein writes of this experience in her recently published memoir, Nothing but the Truth.

But being an outsider has been a boon as well as a burden. It’s given Henein a unique perspective through which to see the world, and has fueled the star attorney’s ability to think outside the box.  “It certainly allows for a great deal of creativity,” she says.

Henein was born in Egypt, moved to Lebanon, and immigrated to Canada with her family at the age of four. Her parents moved here to escape the volatility in Lebanon and also to broaden opportunities for their children. Henein’s mother, whose own professional ambitions had been thwarted by early marriage, pushed her daughter to excel academically and earn a life of freedom. “Never depend on a man,” was her mantra.

Henein absorbed her mother’s teachings.  By elementary school, she had already set her sights on becoming a criminal lawyer, a career that demands an ability to challenge the status quo, poke holes in the state’s evidence and mount constitutional challenges.

The profession was a perfect fit for Henein. By her teen years, she was raising eyebrows at her Catholic school, where she penned essays championing premarital sex and abortion. “There’s nothing I hate more than when someone says to me ‘That’s how it’s always been done,’” says Henein. “That just makes my blood boil.”

After earning a Masters of Law from Columbia Law School, Henein articled and later worked for the legendary criminal lawyer Eddie Greenspan, who became a mentor for the young woman.  Greenspan taught her to commit unwaveringly to each client, shelving her own emotions when they got in the way of a case.

After over a decade under his tutelage, Henein was ready to establish her own law firm, Henein Hutchison LLP. Today, she is still savouring her role as an “underdog defending the underdog.” Clients often come from marginalized backgrounds, and arrive feeling lost and frightened. Henein takes the burden off their shoulders. “They feel that somebody is in their corner…protecting them,” she says.

When Henein needs advice on cases, she looks to her colleagues. They have different personalities but similar mindsets. “Everybody is a bit of an outsider,” quirky and interesting, says Henein. Her colleagues have morphed into friends, and the group attends each other’s weddings and even travel together.

But her job has its downside too.  Notwithstanding Henein’s self-assessment as “not…naturally empathetic,” she has trouble shaking off the pain which emanates from both the prosecution and the defence. “The subject matter is tough,” says Henein.

Fortunately, Henein enjoys a range of interests that help sustain her equilibrium.  She takes pleasure in art galleries and museums, as well as cooking.  Shopping is another passion. “I just love the expression of it,” says Henein.  (Making music is not on her list of self-care options.  Henein’s parents enrolled her in piano lessons for ten years. “I hated every moment,” she recalls).

Henein also finds time for volunteer work, giving lectures at fundraisers. Many of her audiences consist of young women. The main message Henein tries to hammer home is the value of self-confidence. “It is the foundation that allows you to take risks and do things,” she says.

Henein also mentors girls and women aspiring to a legal career. Several are immigrants. Having struggled to find her own bearings in Canada, Henein wants to make it easier for others to navigate the route to success. “It shouldn’t be such a closely guarded secret,” says Henein. “The keys to the city shouldn’t be held by only white males.”

Over the years, Henein has scored an impressive array of accolades.  She’s been repeatedly named as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers by Canadian Lawyer, won the Laura Legge Award from the Law Society of Ontario as well as the Law Society of Ontario Medal.

But Henein’s proudest achievement is the warm reception engendered by her memoir. Every time another immigrant thanks her for voicing their own experiences, Henein gets a taste of what it feels like to be an insider.  “All of a sudden you’re a real Canadian,” says Henein. “That is so incredible.”

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