EDWARD GREENSPAN
Senior Partner in the law
firm Greenspan, White
Edward Leonard Greenspan, senior partner in the Toronto law firm
Greenspan, White, is one of Canada's best known lawyers. He grew up in
Niagara Falls, Ontario and attended University of Toronto, where he
received a BA and Osgoode Hall Law School, graduating in 1968. After
being called to the bar in 1970, Greenspan began his legal career in
Toronto. Having earned only $3,200 in his first year as a lawyer, he
actually considered returning to Niagara Falls, but his vigorous
cross-examinations and colourful style as a junior defence counsel in
the highly publicised Peter Demeter murder trial captured the attention
of the media and the public. Since then, Greenspan has represented some
of Canada's most controversial and high-profile defendants: former Nova
Scotia Premier Gerald Regan, theatre magnate Garth Drabinsky, business
mogul Karlheinz Schreiber, 'mercy-killer' Robert Latimer, Helmuth
Buxbaum, accused of murdering his wife, and a young mother accused of
throwing her baby over Niagara Falls. He was appointed Queen's Counsel
in 982.
Outside the courtroom, Greenspan has been a lecturer at the University
of Toronto Law School since 1971, and served as National Chairman of the
Criminal Justice subsection of the Canadian Bar Association from
1983-1984. He hosted and co-produced the legal docudrama The Scales of
Justice, which aired on C.B.C. Radio from 1982-1990 and on C.B.C.
television from 1990-1994. Greenspan's articles on criminal law have
appeared in legal and medical journals, and in 1987 he published his
best-selling autobiography in collaboration with George Jonas. He also
serves on the editorial boards of a number of major legal publications.
Greenspan has earned a reputation as an outspoken advocate of the rights
of accused persons. A vice-president of the Canadian Civil Liberties
Association, who devotes long hours to public speeches on the Canadian
justice system and the role of defence counsel, he is known particularly
for his tireless opposition to capital punishment. In 1987, he took a
six-month hiatus from his legal practice to campaign against a motion to
reinstate the death penalty then being debated in the House of Commons.
He also acted in the landmark 2001 case of Atif Rafay and Glen Sebastian
Burns in which the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the death penalty to be
unconstitutional.
In 1999, Greenspan was presented an Honorary Doctorate of Law by the Law
Society of Upper Canada and in 2002, a Doctorate of Civil Law by the
University of Windsor Law School.
Edward Greenspan and his wife Suzy live in Toronto and have two
daughters, Julianna and Samantha.
1968 - graduated from
Osgoode Hall Law School
1970 - called to the Bar in Ontario
1982 - received Queen's Counsel
1999 - received Honourary Doctorate from the Law Society of Upper
Canada
2002 - received Honourary Doctorate of Civil Laws from the University
of Windsor
2004 - received Honourary Doctor of Laws from Assumption University,
Windsor
1983 to Present - Canadian Who's Who
ACADEMIC
INVOLVEMENT
1972 to Present - Lecturer of criminal law at the University
of Toronto Law School
1972 - 1981 - Lecturer of criminal procedure at Osgoode Hall
Law School, York University
1987 - 1989 - Lecturer of advanced evidence in criminal cases
at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
1971 to Present - Lecturer at the Bar Admission Course in Criminal
Law
1982 - Milvain Chair of Advocacy at University of
Calgary Law School
1983 - Practitioner-in-Residence, Faculty of Law,
University of Western Ontario
1986 - Culliton Lecture, University of Saskatchewan
Law School
EDITORIAL BOARDS
1971 to Present - Associate Editor of the Dominion Law Reports
1971 - 1975 - Associate Editor of the Canadian Criminal Cases
1971 - 1990 - Associate Editor of the Ontario Reports
1971 to Present - Associate Editor of the Criminal Law Quarterly
1975 to Present - Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Criminal Cases
1978 to Present - Editor of Martin's Annual Criminal Code
1980 to Present - Editor of Criminal Appeal Rules Annotations
published in Ontario Annual Practice
2001 to Present - Editor of the Weekly Criminal Bulletin
1982 to Present - Member of Editorial Board of Canadian Charter of
Rights Annotated
1985 - 1990 - Member of the Board of the Toronto Arts Awards
Foundation
1986 to Present - Editorial Board of the Canadian Lawyer
1990 to 2001 - Editorial Board of the Law Times
RADIO/TELEVISION HOST
1982 - 1990 - Host/Narrator of "The Scales of Justice" CBC FM
Docu-Drama on famous Canadian criminal trials
(Actra Winner 1983 and 1985 as Best Radio Show
of the Year)
1990 - 1994 - Host/Narrator of “The Scales of Justice” CBC TV
Docu-Drama on famous Canadian criminal
trials
(Gemini Award Winner 1993 - Best Television Show of the Year)
ASSOCIATIONS
1973 - Chairman of Criminal Justice, sub-section of
the Canadian Bar Association (Ontario Branch)
1977 - 1981 - Vice-President of the Criminal Lawyers'
Association
1988 to Present - Member of the Executive for the Society for the
Reform of Criminal Law
1988 to Present - Vice-President of Canadian Civil Liberties
Association
Also a Member of:
- The Canadian Civil Liberties Association
- The Advocates' Society
- The American Bar Association
- The American National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- The International Society of Barristers
- The Canadian Bar Association
- The Criminal Lawyers' Association
- The Lawyers' Club
- The Medico-Legal Society (Member of Council, 1981-1984)
- International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists
- The Empire Club of Canada
- York County Law Association
- University College Alumni Association
- Massey College Quadrangle Society
- Golden Key International Honour Society, University of Toronto Chapter
- The Albany Club
- The York Club
1977 to Present -
Advisory Council of the Centre of Criminology at the University of
Toronto
1978-1985 - Uniformity Commissioner of Canada to the Uniform
Law Conference
1981-1984 - A Director of the Advocates' Society
1981 - 1988 - A Director of the Canadian Civil Liberties
Association
1983-1984 - National Chairman of Criminal Justice,
sub-section of the Canadian Bar Association
1984 to Present - Board of Directors of Canadian ORT Organization
1985 to Present - Board of Directors of Canadian Shaare Zedek
Hospital Foundation
1988 to Present - Advisory Board for the Toronto Lung Transplant Team
1992 to Present - Patron of the Speech Foundation of Ontario
1998 to 2001 - Member of the Ontario Judicial Council
1979 to Present - Honourary member of the Phi Delta Phi, The
International Legal Fraternity
2003 - Board of Directors of Cryptologic Inc.
AWARDS
1965 - The Maurice Coady Prize - University College, University of
Toronto
1992 - The Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the
Confederation of Canada
2001 - G. Arthur Martin Medal
PUBLICATIONS
"Absolute and
Conditional Discharge" (1973) Studies Crim. L., 65
Informing the Jury of
the Consequences of an Insanity Verdict, (1978) 40 C.R.N.S. 73
The Role of the
Psychiatrist in the Criminal Justice System (1978) 23 Can. Psychiatr.
Assoc. J. 137
"The Role of the
Defence Lawyer in Sentencing" in New Directions in Sentencing
Butterworths: Toronto, 1980)
"Remedies in Criminal
Law" in Special Lectures of the Law Society of Upper Canada 1981
(Richard De Boo Ltd.: Don Mills, Ontario)
"The Preliminary
Inquiry", in Criminal Procedure in Canada (Butterworths: Toronto, 1982)
Criminal Statistics
(1982) Influence, Winter 1982/83 120
The Preparation of the
Trial Brief and the Planning of Trial Strategy and Tactics (CRIMINAL);
ADVOCACY, 1982, De Boo, p.35
The Exclusionary Rule,
Volume 16, The Law Society of Upper Canada Gazette (Number 1) 107
Bill S-33; Canada
Evidence Act Relating To Criminal Proceedings, Advocates' Society
Journal, June 1983, p.14
"Fundamental Justice
and the Criminal Law" in Isaac Pitblado Lectures 1983 (Manitoba)
"Perspectives in
Criminal Law" by A.N. Doob and E.L. Greenspan, Q.C. Aurora: Canada Law
Book, 1985
"Rehabilitation: The
Justice Model and the Victim" Justice Beyond Orwell by E.L. Greenspan,
eds. R.S. Abella and M.L. Rothman. Montreal: Les Editions Yvon Blais,
1985
"Opening to the Jury
for the Defence in a Criminal Case: in Advocacy in Court, A Tribute to
Arthur Maloney, Q.C. (Canada Law Book: Toronto, 1986)
The Future Role of
Defence Counsel (1986-87) 51 Sask. Law. Rev.
GREENSPAN: The Case for
the Defence by E.L. Greenspan, Q.C. and George Jonas (Macmillan of
Canada: Toronto, 1987)
"The Royal Commission:
History, Powers and Functions, and the Role of Counsel" in
Administrative Tribunals, a Practice Handbook for Legal Counsel (Canada
Law Book: Aurora, 1989)
The Quality of Life and
the Practice of Law, The Law Society of Upper Canada Gazette Volume
XXVI, Number 1, March 1992, page 86
God's Ideal is Justice,
The Law Society of Upper Canada Gazette, Volume XXVII, Number 1, March
1993, page 48
Freedom of Expression
in Canada: “Ifs, Buts & Whereases”, The Law Society of Upper Canada
Gazette, Volume XXIX, Number 3/4, September/December 1995, page 212
“As Prime Minister, I
Would...”, Volume Three, 1997-98 (Macmillan Canada)
Discipline and Parole,
by Edward Greenspan, Andrew Matheson and Ronald Davis, Queen’s Quarterly
105/1 (Spring 1998)
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