16 Facts About Edward Greenspan

Edward Greenspan's fame was owed to numerous high-profile clients and to his national exposure on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio series Scales of Justice.

Edward Greenspan was a vice president of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Edward Greenspan was a member of the Quadrangle Society and a Senior Fellow of Massey College at the University of Toronto.

Edward Greenspan was awarded the G Arthur Martin Medal in 2001.

Edward Greenspan received a Doctorate of Civil Laws from the University of Windsor in 2002, Assumption University in 2004 and Brock University in 2012.

Edward Greenspan was awarded the Advocates' Society Medal in 2009 and the highest honour to be bestowed on an Ontario Lawyer, the Law Society Medal.

In December 1983, Edward Greenspan found himself marginally involved in the murder of the gangster Domenic Racco.

The gangster Giuseppe Avigone saw Edward Greenspan to ask him to cash the $8,000 cheque that Racco had with him when he was killed, a request that Edward Greenspan refused.

In 1986, when the House of Commons of Canada was debating a proposal to reinstate capital punishment in Canada, Edward Greenspan suspended his practice for three months in order to tour the country and debate the issue in any forum available.

Edward Greenspan was partners with some of the most accomplished lawyers in Canada.

Edward Greenspan was an outspoken critic of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's criminal justice legislation, including in a 2012 opinion piece in magazine The Walrus and a 2013 opinion piece in newspaper The Globe and Mail.

Edward Greenspan was the subject of a documentary film, A Criminal Mind, directed by Barry Avrich.

Edward Greenspan died of heart failure at the age of 70 while vacationing in Phoenix, Arizona in December 2014.

Edward Greenspan's funeral was held at Beth Torah Synagogue in Toronto with burial at Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Edward Greenspan was a larger than life figure in legal circles, our city and country.

Edward Greenspan was a brilliant lawyer who understood how important it is that everyone have a defence, and he was a tireless champion for human rights.