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ICM vs. famously screamy literary agent Richard Abate: the battle rages on downtown in court! The LA Times sums up the conflict nicely. "The agency painted Abate as a dishonest, opportunistic agent, envious of a colleague's promotion. His attorneys, in turn, portrayed ICM as a financially stressed company that was panicking over its pattern of losing high-priced agents to its rivals." Hmm... maybe they are both right. But since this is a lawsuit, someone is eventually going to have to be righter. Will it be ICM or Abate?

Hard to tell. At this point, the Judge (Judge Leisure!) seems equally frustrated at Abate ("Your lack of memory [over details] 30-60 days ago disturbs me... You're wasting my time") and ICM (he told them they had failed to show that Abate had left inappropriately or pirated clients).

One thing is clear, though: Richard Abate isn't actually universally reviled. According to Galleycat, Abate's assistant Nicolette Cassell "burst into tears and did not stop crying for a good 10-15 minutes" when she was told that Abate was leaving the agency. So he's not a bad boss after all!

Abate Tells Court: ICM Too Low Rent [LA Times]
Abate vs. ICM Day Two: Laying Out The Timeline [Mediabistro]