Not every case goes exactly as planned and sometimes, a judge will make an unfavorable decision. The lawyer sees his job as creating reasonable and logical arguments on your behalf and presenting those arguments to a fact finder (judge or jury) clearly and forcefully. Clients who bad-mouth other lawyers generally have unrealistic expectations or demands and good lawyers avoid taking over these clients.
Avoid excessive specialization in money. Assuming the lawyers that make your initial cut are reasonable, fair people, they recognize that you simply want to spend no quite necessary in pursuing your case. An ethical, competent lawyer won't run up time on your case to extend his fee. Along those self same lines, good lawyers won't be offended if you fire more detail about an entry on a bill.