In what U.S. state is the legal proceeding taking place, and what kind of legal proceeding is it?
The answer to your first question is that how hard the attorney will look will depend on the particular attorney doing the work. Some will look harder than others. Not knowing anything about the lawyer there is no way I can even guess at how much he or she will do.
As for your question what options do they depends on who "they" are (an attorney is just one person, so would be a "he" or a "she" an thus it isn't clear to what persons you are referring to here). It also matters in what state this is taking place and the nature of the legal proceeding involved.
The final question about paying for the communication with the opposing party, that depends a great deal on the fee agreement with the attorney, but generally when paying by the hour you pay for all time the attorney spends on the case, including time spend communicating with the other side.

