Amongst myself and a number of friends (whom work in tech), we've observed a similar difficulty with meeting and employing lawyers for either personal- or business-related issues. We all seemed to arrive at the same conclusion that we don't know any lawyers personally, they don't seem to be part of our extended circle of acquaintances, and are difficult to find locally and evaluate their ability to handle whatever the need is, without shelling out a decent sum of money upfront.
Maybe this is unique to us, or maybe others here have experienced this too (please chime in). I suppose what I'm asking is what are good ways to find local lawyers with the right specialization (most of the half-decent recommendation services I've seen online are paid services). Also, where are y'all hiding? Can I buy one of you a beer?