Hmm, I am a bit reticent about wading into these waters given the first several responses, but . . .
I have been an attorney for about 2 years, and work for the Air Force JAG Department. I do not have firsthand knowledge of what a legal career in the private sector is like, but I know folks who do.
I enjoy what I do, but frankly the law is not a career for the faint of heart, and I encourage your friend to consult an industrial psychologist and take a Strong Interest Inventory (a test that measures your aptitudes for various fields) before seriously embarking on a legal career. I would be a little concerned about anyone thinking about law school who does not have a basic, realistic set of expectations going in. It is horrendously expensive to go to law school (figure $50-100K), and the experience was without a doubt the worst 3 years of my life (the only things worse than law professors are law students). I do not regret it, but plenty of people do when all is said and done.
As Windogg stated, there are no particular undergraduate requirements. English, Psychology (my major), and Poli Sci are common undergrad pre-law majors, but I also knew plenty of engineers (Intellectual Property law is a cash cow and engineers have a huge advantage), at least one physician, and people with various other graduate and postgrad backgrounds.
You have to take the LSAT to gain entrance to law school, and since the admissions process is essentially statistical (normally a school will add your LSATs to some multiple of your GPA to determine your admissibility; extracurriculars and other resume bullets only help in the marginal cases), the test is quite important. I found it helped to take the GRE as a warmup, as the LSAT is basically a much more difficult version of the problem-solving part of the GRE. I never did Kaplan or any other course, but studied out of books and did quite well.
I took 3 years between college and law school, and my mother was 35 when she started (she has been a judge for 17 years now), but overall I would think it might be a good idea to go right out of college just to get it out of the way.
Feel free to PM me or e-mail me if I can be of further assistance.
p.s.: How many lawyers does it take to roof a house? It depends on how thin you slice them.
A man walks into a lawyer's office and tells him, "I need to hire a lawyer. How much do you charge?" The lawyer tells him, "I get $500 to answer three of your questions." "Boy," the man says, "that's a lot. Are you any good?" "I'm the best," the lawyer replies, "Now what was your third question?"
Did you hear about the terrorists who hijacked a 747 full of attorneys? They are threatening to release one an hour until their demands are met.
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