I was in the same situation and wrote and submitted utility patent application myself. Unfortunately after "Alice" US supreme court decision virtually any algorithm could be qualified as"abstract idea", which happened in my case. With lawyer's help I rewrote the application to increase the chances and now waiting for USPTO response. I requested the application unpublished so if it doesn't go through I can keep a trade secret. Good luck to you.

I was in the same situation and wrote and submitted utility patent application myself. Unfortunately after "Alice" US supreme court decision virtually any algorithm could be qualified as"abstract idea", which happened in my case. With lawyer's help I rewrote the application to increase the chances and now waiting for a response from the USPTO. I requested the application unpublished so if it doesn't go through I can keep a trade secret. Good luck to you.