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Lawrence Greenspon is anOttawa-based lawyer who was the defence counsel in theMomin Khawaja terrorist trial.[1][2]
Greenspon was born and raised inMontreal and moved to Ottawa in 1974; he became a civil libertarian before commencing his legal work.[3]
Greenspon is an associate in theOttawa firm Greenspon Granger Hill, practising both criminal defence and civil litigation.[4] He has been involved in the defence of a number of high-profile cases.[5][6][7][8] In August 2017, SenatorMike Duffy announced that he would sue theSenate of Canada and theRCMP for $8 million in lost income and general damages because of his suspension, for which he was acquitted, and hired Greenspon to represent him.[9] The lawsuit was dismissed in 2018 due toparliamentary privilege. Duffy appealed, and the decision was upheld by theOntario Court of Appeal in 2020. The decision was appealed again to theSupreme Court of Canada, who dismissed the appeal in 2021.[10]
He is a past chair of the Ottawa Jewish Community Centre and the United Way Community Services Cabinet and has received several honours, including a Lifetime Achievement from Volunteer Ottawa and the Community Builder of the Year Award by the United Way.[11]
He married Angela Lariviere in July 2015.[12]
On January 3, 2018, the lawyer representingJoshua Boyle said that the defendant planned to have Greenspon and partner Eric Granger take over the defence against 15 criminal charges.[13] Boyle is a high-profile defendant because he and his family had been released after five years of captivity in Afghanistan only months before his arrest for offences alleged to have been committed in Ottawa.[14][15] The charges were dismissed in 2019.[16]
In 2022, Greenspon represented the family of a 14-year old boy who climbed throughCity of Ottawa-erected fencing at the disusedPrince of Wales Bridge and drowned after jumping into theOttawa River. The family filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against the City alleging that it was negligent for not taking effective steps to stop such incidents at the bridge.[17]