Hi Miles,
Hopefully I can help. I own and operate two businesses outside of real estate. I also offer legal advice and help others forming their own business! With that being said, I would HIGHLY recommend forming an LLC before doing anything! And yes, your attorney is correct. Forming an LLC will protect you and your personal possessions. However, I would not recommend using an attorney to form any type of business. They make their money by tacking on "fees". For all of my business needs, I have used Legal Zoom. (legalzoom.com) Ive spent around $450 for each of my LLC's and it was worth every penny! Keep in mind, it can take up to 3 months for your LLC to fully form due to the government taking forever to file and approve all of the paperwork that goes along with it. However, Legal Zoom does all of the work for you and explains everything they had done as well as a packet of all the information you will need to know about LLC's. Hopefully this will help you make your decision. Good luck!