A Cook County jury convicted Mantas Matulis of second-degree murder Monday night in the death of Tombol Malik, a 23-year-old University of Illinois at Chicago student beaten to death with a bike lock in 2005.

Prosecutors had brought first-degree murder charges against Matulis, 22, alleging he kicked Malik in the head after an accomplice beat him with the lock. But the defense argued Matulis acted in self-defense, and the jury convicted him of the lesser charge after seven hours of deliberation.

The second-degree murder conviction carries a sentence of four to 20 years in prison.

Bucks County Judge Kenneth Biehn complied, accepting Flor's plea and sentencing him to seven to 20 years in prison. It seemed a moot point because Flor, 39, is on death row for the Sept. 29, 2005, slaying of Newtown police Officer Brian Gregg.

But Miles, who suffered a broken finger and two black eyes during the beating, deserved justice, Biehn said. The courtroom was dark and silent as Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Gambardella played a tape of the attack, captured via a video camera mounted on the wall in Flor's cell block.

The video shows Flor battering Miles, knocking him to the floor. When Miles got to his feet, Flor continued to push him and knock him down again. Another inmate, Timothy Heidelmark, blocked another officer who tried to help.

The attack was broken up when other corrections officers stormed the cell block. Miles was out of work for six weeks as a result of the assault.

Peter Hall, Flor's attorney, told Biehn that Flor did not want to endure any more legal proceedings, saying his client "didn't want to have any reason to return to Bucks County Court."

Last week, Cooke refused to dismiss the terror charges based on Padilla's allegations that he was tortured. Padilla, a US citizen, was arrested in 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and subsequently detained as an "enemy combatant" at a Navy military brig in Charleston, South Carolina. Initially accused of planning to set off a "dirty bomb" in the United States, Padilla went from enemy combatant to criminal defendant when he was finally charged  in November 2005 on unrelated counts of conspiracy to murder US nationals and supporting terrorist activity. He was transferred to civilian custody  in January 2006 and has pleaded not guilty to the charges. In February, Padilla was ruled competent to stand trial.

The law firm of Schwartz, Simon, Edelstein, Celso & Kessler leased 43,150 square feet of office space in the Washington Office Center, a 215,037-square-foot office building at 44 Whippany Road in Morristown, NJ. The firm expects to take occupancy on a 15-year deal in August.

Washington Office Center is a three-story, Class A building completed in 1984. It has access to I-287 and Rt. 24 and is adjacent to the 160-acre Morris County Arboretum.

Douglas Gaffney and Mike Staskiewicz of The Schultz Organization represented the law firm. The landlord, RexCorp Realty, was represented in-house by Brian Fitzsimmons.

The Seoul District Court in South Korea sentenced five people to jail Monday for spying for North Korea. Group ringleader Korean-American Michael Jang received a nine-year sentence for encouraging anti-US sentiment in South Korea under orders from North Korea in 2005. Jang initiated contact with North Korean agents in 1998 and first established a spy ring to pass secret information to North Korea in 2002. The other group members were sentenced to between four and six year terms for violating an anti-communist National Security Law.

The group was indicted by South Korean officials last December in what has been labeled the largest spy case since the two countries began reconciliation at a North-South summit in 2000. North Korea has accused the case of being a plot by pro-US forces to bolster anti-North Korean feelings in the south.

Lowell is one of the premier white-collar defense lawyers in the United States and has successfully represented clients in investigations and trials all across the country.  He is widely recognized as one of the top lawyers in America and has been named one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers" in America by The National Law Journal, one of the top white-collar litigators by Best Lawyers in America, one of the "Top Ten White Collar Defense Attorneys" by Legal Times, as one of Washington's best attorneys numerous times by The Washingtonian magazine, one of the "most winning" trial attorneys by The National Law Journal, and "one of the people you have on your rolodex" by Roll Call, the newspaper covering Capitol Hill.

His clients have included dozens of high-profile public officials, CEOs and directors of publicly traded companies and financial institutions, Fortune 100 companies and government institutions.  His clients, both current and previous, include Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons; former CEO of ImClone Sam Waksal; former CEO of Healthsouth Richard Scrushy; former D.C. lobbyist Jack Abramoff; Mississippi mayor Henry Espy; former Congressmen Bill Boner, Harold Ford, Austin Murphy, Joe McDade and Gary Condit; the actor Steven Seagal and lobbyists of the American Israel Policy Affairs Committee (AIPAC).  In addition, Lowell served as Chief Counsel to the Minority in Congress for the Impeachment of President Clinton, previously served as Special Counsel to the House of Representatives Ethics Committee, and was appointed to be Special Counselor to the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights in Geneva.  Prior to entering private practice, Lowell served in numerous posts in the U.S. Department of Justice, including as a Trial Attorney in the Criminal Division, a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney and a Special Assistant to the Attorney General.

In announcing the addition of Lowell to the Firm, Harvey W. Freishtat, chairman of McDermott, said:  "We are very pleased that Abbe has joined McDermott.  He is a superb lawyer and has earned an international reputation for his white-collar defense and special litigation work.  He will play an important role in our ability to represent our clients in their most difficult matters."

Jeffrey E. Stone, head of the 275-lawyer Trial Department, stated:  "We are excited that Abbe has chosen to join us over the many firms who would have loved to count him among their ranks.  His decision to join us validates and contributes to our growing reputation as one of the world’s pre-eminent trial firms.  He will work closely with our existing team and will add to our already very deep pool of talent in our national white-collar defense practice."

Lowell, who will be leaving the New York-based law firm of Chadbourne & Parke, said:  "This was a very difficult decision to make because Chadbourne is a wonderful firm and place to work.  But the chance to be part of an international white-collar and special litigation practice with so many offices where I have cases and clients, with as many colleagues who have government and defense trial experience, and with as many clients for whom I can be part of the representation is truly an irreplaceable opportunity.  McDermott is a cutting-edge law firm, and I could not pass up the chance to be part of its future."

Bobby R. Burchfield, co-head of McDermott’s D.C. office added:  "We are delighted to have Abbe as a partner.  As one of the most respected and well-known lawyers in the country, he adds immediate profile and depth to our litigation, trial and congressional investigation practices."

In addition to his practice, Lowell will continue to teach criminal law and evidence as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law Center and Columbia Law School, and he will continue to write on legal issues for national and legal periodicals.

Also joining McDermott will be Pamela Marple, who will be a partner in the Washington, D.C. office.  Before private practice, Marple served as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice, as Minority Chief Counsel to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and as Minority Deputy Chief Counsel during the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee's special investigation into campaign finance activities in 1996 and 1997.  She is an experienced attorney with deep knowledge of internal investigations, white-collar cases, federal regulatory actions, civil litigation and congressional inquiries.

Charter Communications is suing a Los Angeles-based law firm, claiming its malpractice cost the cable operator and its holding companies more than $150 million in a cable acquisition.

The suit, filed April 6 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Santa Ana, claims St. Louis-based Charter's legal counsel in the deal ' Irell & Manella LLP ' erred in legal preparations for a transaction in which Charter holding companies acquired Bresnan Communications systems from the Bresnan family and investors that included AT&T.

Bresnan owners were to get units in a Charter holding company, which could later be converted to Charter Communications stock or cash.