Walking into a law firm or attorney's office, first two things I check out is 1) law degree and 2) previous connections such as former US Attorney or FBI or SEC like Moxie stated.

After that I'll be doing research on previous cases to see how good they are.

But if I walk into their office and I see their law degree coming from Cum Gobbler College of Law, I'd turn around and walk out the door immediately. They can be a hell of a lawyer and have weight to show me after the fact but unfortunately I have it in my head that they went to Cum Gobbler College.