How much money in USD is needed to hire a connoisseur patent attorney? What is the range of cost?

What do you mean by a "connoisseur" patent attorney? Do you mean an expert in an area of the fine or domestic arts, or somebody with discriminating taste in such a specialty?  Also, you have not indicated what you would like the patent attorney to do for you, e.g., a patent ability search, an infringement evaluation, or prepare a patent application and handle the proceedings before the patent office. Without a clearer explanation of what you are looking for, it is hard to advise you. Depending on the technology, nature of the invention and what services are to be performed, the costs could be any where from a couple of thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.