One by one Joiner’s investors sued, until by mid-1932 Hunt found himself facing some three hundred separate legal challenges. Rather than fight each one in court, Hunt told his lawyers to offer the plaintiffs cash settlements. It worked. Dozens of the plaintiffs, mostly poor farmers, took the $250 or so Hunt offered and withdrew their suits. The whole mess would still take nearly a decade to clean up, but Hunt’s strategy saved him a fortune in legal fees and potential judgments.
