I also went through a lawyer about two years ago to legally change first and last. I did not (thank Jesus lol) have to appear in front of a judge. It costs more to go through a lawyer but I was too anxious about all of the documents that needed to be submitted etc. So I decided to go through a lawyer so they could handle that part of it for me. Good luck! I'll echo someone else in saying that it was much harder to change everything through everyone else than to actually get the name change itself!