Henein was born in Cairo, Egypt, to Lebanese Maronite parents. 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. She attended St. Joseph's Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School.
She was later rehired at Edward Greenspan's firm after working with his partner, Marc Rosenberg. She eventually was named a partner of the firm in 1998. In 2002, Henein left to open Henein and Associates. The firm later was renamed as Henein Hutchinson LLP after former crown attorneyScott Hutchison joined the firm as a named partner. After Hutchison joined, Henein hired an advertising agency whose campaign for the firm included a "photo shoot that might have been orchestrated by Vanity Fair" and "some critics sniff that it smacks of an ad for an HBO legal series". Henein has developed a reputation in Toronto as one of the most "respected and feared criminal lawyers in the country." The National Post called her the "most high profile criminal defence lawyer in the country." 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."
Notable cases
In 1998, with Greenspan, Henein defended former Nova Scotia premierGerald Regan on sexual-misconduct charges. The Supreme Court of Canada denied Regan's appeal, but he was ultimately acquitted of all charges. 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. In 2008, Henein defended hockey agent David Frost, who was acquitted of the charges of sexual exploitation. Frost called her "my shark." 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". In 2009, Henein represented Bradley Harrison at the Supreme Court of Canada. The charges of possession of 35 kilograms of cocaine were dropped. 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. Bryant said she "seemed to channel Hannibal Lecter." 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 November 2014, former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi hired Henein to defend him. 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. The trial lasted eight days. 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. Henein represented Mark Norman during his trial for Breach of Trust, a charge that was eventually stayed on May 9, 2019.
Personal life
Her brother Peter Henein is a lawyer with the law firm Cassels Brock. 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.
