In 2008, Precedent sat down with five of the country’s most respected lawyers and jurists. But before we did, we met separately with their children, who also worked in the legal profession, to find out what inspired them to follow in their parents’ footsteps.
What came through was less about the law, and more about relationships between children and their parents. As children, they relied on their parents for support. As adults, they supported each other — whether it was Harry McMurtry’s helping hand as he and his father navigated the rocks near their Muskoka cottage, or Julianna Greenspan’s photo-shoot fashion advice for her dad. Our writer Philip Preville and photographer Vanessa Heins came away with touching portraits of mutual respect, admiration and family.
Today, in memory of Eddie Greenspan, who died this week at the age of 70, we share our interview with Eddie and his daughter Julianna.
The Greenspans
Edward L. Greenspan Q.C.
64, father of two
LL.B. Osgoode Hall 1968
Senior Partner, Greenspan Partners
Julianna Greenspan
36, eldest
J.D. Northwestern 1997
Partner, Greenspan Partners
Eddie: I could never get work done at home. I am too easily prone to distraction. The office is where I work best.
Julianna: My mom would put me in the car and drive me downtown to dad’s office at night, and we would go out for dinner, often with his friends. A lot of my childhood memories with my dad are in restaurants downtown.
Eddie: If friends wanted to have us for dinner, they had to accept our kids as well. They came everywhere with us. That’s how I got my time with them.
Julianna: My dad doesn’t ask questions. He cross-examines. He can’t help himself. I remember I lost my retainer once, and I had a story of how it had gone missing or disappeared, and he cross-examined the shit out of me. I don’t think I gave in, but afterwards I went to my mother and confessed because he had broken me down.
Eddie: I loved catching her in a prior inconsistent statement. And I needed the practice.
Julianna: He still tries to do it, but I’m not the one-time witness in the courtroom facing Eddie Greenspan. I can handle him now. It drives him nuts.