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understand our obligations to the court, but instead we were dedicated profes- sionals who were trying to fix a broken system." Addario isn't the only one who has recently turned to Henein in a time of need. Former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant has retained her to fight a charge of criminal negligence causing death, following an incident in Toronto last summer involving the death of a cyclist. Henein also made waves in 2009 for a surprising court victory on behalf of controversial hockey agent David Frost, who was acquitted of sexual exploitation. Henein was also at the Supreme Court of Canada twice last year to be heard on matters crucial to the country's criminal jurisprudence. "There's no question that she's one of the leaders of the bar," says Addario. Henein has steadily cultivated a repu- tation as a go-to criminal defence lawyer since being called to the Ontario bar in 1992. Colleagues speak of her unbridled enthusiasm for the job, willingness to outwork her opponents, and — perhaps most important to Henein herself — her desire to show fellow women lawyers that they need not compromise to achieve their personal and professional goals. Sitting in her downtown Toronto office — a classy rustic building with exposed brick walls and glistening wood panel floors — Henein reflects on the journey her family has taken since her birth in Cairo. Hoping to provide a bet- ter life for his family, Henein's father, Joseph, uprooted his wife and daughter when Marie was just one year old, mov- ing to Vancouver before returning east to Lebanon after just one year. But the volatility of life in that country prompted Joseph and Evelyn Henein to return to Canada and settle for good in Toronto when Marie was four. The Heneins were motivated by what their daughter calls "the classic immigrant mentality" — to start a new life in a strange land where their children would have better odds at success. The plan worked, largely thanks to the unshakeable work ethic of Henein's At the 2009 Criminal Lawyers' Association Conference in Toronto when Justice Marc Rosenberg was awarded the Martin Medal Award (l to r): Lori Newton, a lawyer at the Court of Appeal; Marie Henein; Rosenberg; Katherine Corrick of the Law Society of Upper Canada; and Susan Doyle from the National Judicial Institute. fire and shape her career ambitions early on. "There was no other option for me," she says. "Ever since I was in elementary school, if you asked me what I wanted to do, it was to be a criminal defence lawyer." Henein's brother, Cassels Brock & Eddie Greenspan and Henein at the 2009 Advocates' Society medal ceremony. father, who toiled around the clock estab- lishing a successful pharmacy business. Henein points to him as the greatest influence on her decision to seek a career in law. She calls him a "frustrated lawyer" whose ambitions were foiled by the poor pay lawyers earn in the Middle East. Yet his passion for the law and intellectual debate rubbed off on his daughter, who was given leeway to engage in passion- ate dinner-table deliberations with her father. That laid the groundwork for her future career. "Ever since I was really young, he would debate me and engage me," she recalls. "We would have political arguments and religious arguments, and all sorts of things, constantly." That dinner-table discourse and her keen sense of social justice helped light a 30 ApRil 2010 www. C ANADiAN law ye rmag.com Blackwell LLP lawyer Peter Henein, says his sister's inner drive to succeed took hold early on. He remembers a family March break vacation to Florida when his sister was in high school. Most kids that age would have been focused on soaking up some rays on the beach, but she was holed up in a hotel room work- ing on an essay for one of her classes. "I think it was a paper on Keats," Peter recalls. "I remember my mother implor- ing her to get outside and have some fun before we ended up leaving. I think it wasn't until the last day of the trip when she had finished her paper that she finally came out and hit the beach, and was very disappointed that the entire week had passed. It's still a story I hear often, because this was Marie growing up." Based on Henein's early affinity for the profession, it's no surprise she was on the fast track to its upper echelons. She arrived at Osgoode Hall Law School in 1986 with just two years of undergraduate