"Exxon Mobil Claims Its Foes Are Conspiring Against It"

"Is the oil giant seeking depositions to harass officials and lawyers?"

"As climate-change lawsuits against the oil industry mount, Exxon Mobil Corp. is taking a bare-knuckle approach rarely seen in legal disputes: It's going after the lawyers who are suing it.

The company has targeted at least 30 people and organizations, including the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts, hitting them with suits, threats of suits or demands for depositions. The company claims the lawyers, public officials and environmental activists are 'conspiring' against it in a coordinated legal and public relations campaign.

Exxon Mobil has even given that campaign a vaguely sinister-sounding name: 'The La Jolla playbook.' According to the company, two dozen people hatched a strategy against it at a meeting six years ago in an oceanfront cottage in La Jolla, Calif."

Bob Van Voris reports for Bloomberg News February 16, 2018.