Hannah Torpey shares her path into law, her journey as a solicitor apprentice, and her secondment experience with TikTok in Dubai
Ahead of this Friday’s in-person event with CMS, Understanding International Law Firms, we spoke with CMS trainee Hannah Torpey. She shared her journey as a solicitor apprentice, her experience of life at an international firm, and the support she has received along the way.
Solicitor apprenticeships are an increasingly popular route into the legal profession. They provide an alternative to the traditional university pathway and open the profession to those who want to combine study with practical experience. For Hannah Torpey, this became especially important when her own plans changed. After missing her target grade in English A-Level, she had to rethink her future. She retook her exams and began researching alternatives to university. It was her parents who suggested, “Have you seen if you can do an apprenticeship?”, which prompted her to explore the new solicitor apprenticeship schemes at City firms. Torpey applied to CMS and, despite the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, the firm continued its programme and offered her a place. Eager to pursue commercial law, she saw the apprenticeship as a way to enter practice immediately, gain hands-on experience, and rotate through a variety of departments to kickstart her career.
Torpey knew she wanted to train at an international firm, and CMS fit the bill. “It is one of the biggest law firms in the world. We’ve got offices everywhere,” she notes. The global network, with teams frequently collaborating across borders, was a strong draw. Equally important was the firm’s culture. As a young woman in law, she was encouraged to see “a very good level of women at senior levels” within the partnership.
The CMS solicitor apprenticeship lasts over six years. It begins with four year-long seats, followed by a two-year training contract split into four six-month seats, giving apprentices exposure to a wide range of practice areas. Alongside her work, Torpey studied at the University of Law. She admits that moving from school into this independent study model was “definitely quite challenging” at first but says the firm’s support made all the difference. CMS protects apprentices’ study time: Fridays are set aside for lectures and exam preparation, extra leave is granted for exams, and the early talent team checks in regularly on workload and wellbeing. “CMS is very good at making it known that apprentices are out of the office on a Friday; and it is protected as a study day,” she explains.
Throughout her apprenticeship, Torpey has taken on mostly transactional and advisory work. Highlights include a six-month client secondment to Nestlé in her fourth year, and more recently, a secondment to TikTok in Dubai. Such client placements are invaluable, she says, because they show “what’s important to stakeholders and what they want from their lawyers.” That insight has already helped her tailor her drafting to ensure consideration of clients’ business needs. Beyond secondments, she has gained experience in multi-jurisdictional technology and media projects, IPOs and M&A transactions with the corporate team, and property transactions in real estate. She has also contributed to disputes work, including a “massive” four-year arbitration — “a really valuable experience,” she recalls.
But her favourite experience so far has been the six-month secondment to TikTok in Dubai, which gave her first-hand exposure to in-house tech and media law. There, she worked in the Commercial legal team supporting the TikTok advertising business on in-app activations, events and partnerships, negotiating service agreements, managing sponsorship collaborations and paid-for campaigns, and supporting the finance team with contracts to support their function. “It was an extraordinary time,” she says. CMS arranged accommodation, and she split her time between TikTok and CMS’s Dubai office, where she met the local tech and media team. Regular check-ins from London ensured she felt supported while abroad.
Back at CMS, Torpey has benefited from strong supervision and guidance. “I’ve had great supervisors throughout the five years. They’ve always been keen to get me involved in as much work as possible, and the same work as the trainees,” she says. Supervisors and colleagues have been mindful of study commitments, ensuring she is not overloaded at the expense of exam prep — something she describes as “really important” for the sustainability of the programme. The apprentice cohort itself is close-knit: “We all get on really well and look out for each other,” she says. As a senior apprentice, she enjoys mentoring juniors on study strategies and navigating the scheme. “In most of my teams I’ve been treated the same and given the same opportunities as the trainees,” she adds. Responsibilities have grown gradually, making the transition into the training contract feel natural.
So what does a typical day look like for Torpey? She often arrives early to fit in some SQE revision or catch up on emails before moving on to tasks such as updating draft documents to reflect client needs or agreed changes, drafting new documents for transactions, joining client calls, or supporting business development. “Every day is very different. Some days you’re working later than others. It totally depends,” she explains. Despite the workload, CMS promotes a healthy work-life balance, with flexible working arrangements that require only three days in the office each week. As part of a global firm, she frequently collaborates with colleagues overseas, for example by liaising with Middle Eastern offices when matters require dual-jurisdictional input. She enjoys this international teamwork, noting that it allows her to “get to know different people across the firm.”
Before wrapping up, Torpey offers some advice to aspiring solicitors applying to CMS: “Understand what CMS is doing at the moment and where CMS is going,” she stresses, and think about how you can contribute to those long-term goals. She also encourages applicants to be open-minded. Try out different teams and take advantage of the breadth CMS offers. “It’s a firm that enables its trainees to build a truly broad foundation of knowledge and experience,” she says.
Looking ahead, Torpey intends to qualify into CMS’s technology and media practice. “It’s a really growing sector and CMS has a strong tech and media practice globally,” she explains. The rapid changes in technology — from digital media to AI — excite her, and her time at TikTok confirmed her desire to build a career in a field “that’s going to ongoingly develop and be exciting.” Her journey shows how CMS’s training programme provides aspiring solicitors with a broad, supportive, and international start to their careers.
Hannah Torpey will be speaking at ‘Understanding international law firms — with CMS‘, an in-person event taking place on Friday 3 October. This event is fully booked, but you can check out our upcoming events.
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