In India, where I'm from, it's possible to walk into a law firm and ask them to give you an internship. If you prove your worth there even as a student, (during which time you do unpaid work for the firm) there is every possibility of them taking you on board, formally, after you graduate. Can someone tell me if such an informal approach is possible, with firms in London? or is the training contract the only pathway to a job for freshers? Is it possible to just talk to the recruitment manager of an LLP and ask them to give you work, or even just allow you to observe how the firm works?

In the Uk you could work as a Paralegal. It means you work just for few weeks, when the law firms need you, dealing with acts and researches, and you are paid. For an internship it s much more difficult.
Hope this helps

Cheers Tortello

Hi Tortello. Thanks for your reply. What do you mean by 'for an internship it's much more difficult' What does the UK internship involve?

I only mean that probably there s much more competition, but anyway you could try and wait their answers.

Ciao