I have a friend who is an IP lawyer, but I live on Long Island, NY.

It's hard to give really specific advice on this but do you have friends who work in tech who've filed patents? If so, they probably have worked with a patent attorney hired by their company to convert their invention into a patent application. Ask about their experience, whether the patent attorney properly understood their invention, whether the patent attorney was responsive, etc.

In general, as a patent attorney who's worked both in large international law firms and in a smaller firm (patent boutiques) that deals just with patent prosecution, my general advice would be to try and find a good patent boutique. In general the quality of the work will probably be about the same and the patent boutique will probably charge you less money.

This isn’t about IP, but it is a pretty good screed on using lawyers.

It’s a video from a meetup, by the principal of a design firm, about the importance of using legal counsel.

https://vimeo.com/22053820