He sought sanctuary in Perugia, where he resumed his studies, but it is uncertain whether he earned doctorates in both civil and canon law at the young age of 22, as records indicate he was still enrolled as a student in March 1512.

Torelli further solidified his ties with the Medici family, particularly with Leo X and Cardinal Giulio, the future Clement VII, as demonstrated by a letter in which he sought their backing for his appointment as a judge in Rome.

In 1531, due to the backing of Clement VII and ducal secretary Francesco Campana, he was designated auditor of the Florentine Ruota (court), a role he held for two three-year periods.

[2] He staunchly defended the grand duke's prerogatives, such as the exequatur for papal court citations, while also ensuring due respect for ecclesiastical jurisdiction where it was applicable.

In 1543, Torelli was appointed auditore della Studio of the University of Pisa, some kind of Minister of Education,[5] granting him influence over the selection of professors, though some efforts, such as recruiting Andrea Alciato, proved unsuccessful.

While Torelli generally exercised his power with restraint, some accounts suggest he grew more inclined towards independent action and involvement in private matters, which ultimately strained his relationship with Cosimo, resulting in the transfer of some of his responsibilities to Bartolomeo Concini in 1570.

However, according to Guido Carocci, Torelli was killed in an ambush by Troilo Orsini at the Canto degli Aranci (between present-day Via Ghibellina and Via Verdi streets in Florence), due to suspicions of his complicity with murder of Isabella de' Medici.

With the Duke's permission, he kept the manuscript at his residence and collaborated with a group of scholars, including his son Francesco, his nephew Bartolomeo Ammiani, Giovanni Battista Cesario, and Pietro Vettori.

Torelli utilized the collation previously done by Poliziano and Pier Matteo Uberti, but he also went further by examining other manuscripts and consulting with scholars like Johannes Metellus and Antonio Agustín regarding unclear passages in the text.

Notably, Torelli was the first to observe that, due to an ancient binder's mistake, the final pages of the title De diversis regulis iuris in the Florentine manuscript of the Digest (Littera Florentina) were misplaced.

The publication of the Pandects faced further delays, spanning another ten years, during which Agustín's Emendationum et opinionum libri IV, grounded in his studies of the same manuscript, were released with Torelli's consent.

Words inserted later were enclosed in parentheses, an asterisk marked doubtful or uncertain passages, and alternative readings were occasionally noted in the margins, always emphasizing the less reliable one.

Torelli sponsored several literary and artistic works, such as Bernardo Segni's translations of Aristotle’s writings and Pontormo’s fresco cycle in the Basilica of San Lorenzo.