Is virtual work experience worth doing for a career changer needing relevant experience for CV?

Hello, thanks for reading. I'll keep it brief.

Career changer (from tech). Currently trying to find a way into a TC after completing a PGDL.

No legal experience to put on my CV. Plenty of non-law experience semi-relevant to the practice areas I'm ultimately aiming for (IP, commercial etc.). No contacts in law to make getting experience easy. Currently emailing local firms to try to remedy this.

Hence the title question. Should I bother, or is opinion on my CV just going to turn on other experience, making these a waste of time? In tech, things like this would usually be considered worthless, which is why I ask.

My CV is currently too tech-heavy. Any suggestions on how I could get some law-related things on there would be appreciated. I'm currently looking into volunteering at CAB and similar, but everything is a process...

Bonus round: Do all firms want SQE1+2 completed before starting, or are there some that are happy for you to study alongside QWE? (I'm happy to apply to smaller firms etc.)

Thank you!