Oh Jeezus not another lawyer with a stiletto obsession!

$555 to $$14,000 for a pair. How many pair do you have in your closets' ladies?

'It is not my practice to litigate my cases in the media': Who is Jian Ghomeshi's lawyer Marie Henein?

By Jen Gerson
Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Marie Henein, then lawyer for Michael Bryant, leaves old City Hall and prepares to talk to media in Toronto, Ontario Monday, October 19, 2009. (Brett Gundlock/National Post Files)

Marie Henein was being hailed as a rising star in the criminal justice system well before she successfully defended former attorney general Michael Bryant on charges of criminal negligence causing death; however, her position as the most high profile criminal defence lawyer in the country has been cemented with her decision to represent disgraced CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi.

Ms. Henein’s striking visage appeared next to Mr. Ghomeshi’s on Wednesday, when the man accused with four counts of sexual assault briefly faced a scene of total media chaos outside the Toronto courthouse where he made his first appearance.

“It is not my practice to litigate my cases in the media,” she said. “We will say whatever we have to say in a court of law. We will not be making any further media statements.”

Ms. Henein, who was called to the bar in 1992, has represented an impressive array of some of Canada’s most famous and infamous clients.

Related

Robyn Urback: Jian Ghomeshi used to search for the camera. Now, he’s hiding from it

Jian Ghomeshi charged with four counts of sexual assault, will plead not guilty

Jian Ghomeshi’s full statement on the criminal charges against him told through his lawyer (video)

In addition to Mr. Bryant, who was charged in connection with the death of cyclist Darcy Allan Sheppard, Ms. Henein was part of the team that defended Robert Latimer, who killed his severely disabled pre-teen daughter in the ’90s; also, Daniel Weiz, who was accused and acquitted of beating a teenager to death in a Toronto Park in 1999. Before that she aided in the defence of Gerald Regan, former Nova Scotia premier, against sexual abuse.

Records show she has a penchant for being tough on witnesses.

For example, when Ms. Henein defended hockey coach David Frost on charges of exploitation, the lawyer grilled a female witness as to why she had failed to notice a “plum-sized blood sac that appears like a third testicle” when she claims to have performed oral sex.

The witness was 16 when she said she was coerced into multiple threesome between Mr. Frost and her boyfriend, one of his players.

Mr. Frost was acquitted.

According to a Toronto Star profile published in 2003, Ms. Henein’s family immigrated from Egypt when she was 4-years-old. The lawyer attended Osgoode Hall and was described as “hardworking, dedicated and extremely tenacious,” by Ed Greenspan, whose firm hired her after she was called to the bar.

According to the article, Ms. Henein’s confidence about her cases are often reflected in her footwear; when things are going well, she opts for Manolo Blahnik stilettos. (emphasis CyberSmokeBlog)

Before she took Mr. Ghomeshi’s case, Ms. Henein raised eyebrows with an off-colour joke at a gala event where she was speaking: “As criminal lawyers we represent people who have committed heinous acts. Acts of violence. Acts of depravity. Acts of cruelty. Or as Jian Ghomeshi likes to call it, foreplay.”