It's actually very easy to do on your own without a lawyer. Let me know if you need any tips, I did it by myself and need to register a 2nd one pretty soon.
It took around a year to register. It's a really long, drawn out process. It has to get posted for opposition first, in case someone else out there objects to it. Once that period is over and you're done sweating, it's pretty much worry free.
Not only that, they have to go through the database and make sure there isn't already something conflicting with what you want to trademark.