During World War I, Shorr was a partner of Hale, Nelles, and Shorr, which "defended radicals." In 1920, Hale wrote to Tom Mooney, "We are in a hot bed of repression here, with only a very few lawyers who are willing and able to handle the situation, and who are hopelessly overworked." His partners were Swinburne Hale and Walter Nelles. Carlo Tresca, a prominent Italian anarchist, was well acquainted with them. Shorr and Nelles served as counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union. The firm support legal investigations published in the 67-page Report upon the Illegal Practices of the United States Department of Justice by the National Popular Government League ; Swinburne Hale did a majority of the work on the report. In 1920, Shorr testified before Congress that he was representing more than 60 people involved in deportation during the Palmer Raids. In fact, during the Palmer Raids, the U.S. Government noted:
Mr. Shorr is well known to the department because of his activities as attorney for these people. He many times has appeared as attorney for alients who have never seen him until the hearing and disclaimed any knowledge of his retainer. Mr. Shorr is one of the most active leaders of these people in the United States, and at the present time his office is the address at which persons in this country receive incendiary correspondence from persons deported on the Buford.
Joseph R. Brodsky and Carol Weiss King worked with this firm, as did Vito Marcantonio. In 1924, Shorr and Nelles appealed United States ex rel. Tisi v. Tod and United States ex rel. Mensevich v. Tod before the U.S. Supreme Court. By 1924, Shorr was a member of "Shorr, Brodsky, and King". The other two partners were:
circa 1925, whom Shorr helped defend two Italian anti-fascists in 1927 In 1927, Shorr associated with Clarence Darrow and Arthur Garfield Hays to help defend the anti‐Fascists Calogero Greco and Donato Carillo for the alleged murder of the Fascist Joseph Carisi in the Bronx. On December 9, 1927, the trial began, and the full defense team included Darrow, Hays, Shorr, and King. They won an acquittal. In 1934, the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born retained Shorr and King defended Domenico Sallitti in the Ferrero-Sallitti Case in San Francisco. Sallitti's friend Valerio Isca organized their defense, created a Ferrero-Sallittii Defense Conference, and enlisted Rose Pesotta of the ILGWU to help raise bail. Supporters likened their case to that of Sacco and Vanzetti.
Personal and death
Shorr married Bessie Goldenburg; they had two daughters. He was a "ponderous, philosophical anarchist." Shorr died aged 82 on April 23, 1964. Shorr's grandson Gene Weingarten is a Washington Post journalist who has won two Pulitzer Prizes for feature writing.
