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There's a old use case, but I can't seems to be able to find it googling right now. I remember reading it before to switch few websites to ssl, at least two years ago. Anyhow they examined few websites before and after switching to standard ssl (some) and ev ssl (some others), and they found out the conversion rate didn't change with standard ssl, and it decrease with ev ssl. Why could it be? Not clear. Probably because no one noticed the change to ssl, while ev ssl being so prominent lead some to notice it. And as it often happen if a buyer is not concerned of something and you rise the topic to him you feed a doubt, and when you feed a doubt you delay a purchase, and when a purchase is delayed is potentially lost.

So, do you have any content, other than the one homepage, that is the same for both offices?   I would think there will be a need for some such content - maybe a general "About The Firm" page, or other details that are going to be the same for both offices, and would also create duplicate issues beyond just the blog. If so, is it too late for you to consider a single navigation, with a top level page for both Boston and Atlanta, and then subpages for each that can be optimized for your local terms? Regarding duplicate content, you are correct that Google has stated that there isn't a penalty, you just will only get the version of a page that is most appropriate.   So if someone is searching from Atlanta, they will most likely get the Atlanta version of the blog. Will you have some blog posts that only are relevant (or are most relevant) for one location or the other?  If so, duplicating a portion of pages is probably safer than 100% duplication.

"So, if these guys don't even have their own queries nailed down then they either are not very good at this or the cost isn't worth it even for them." Sounds legit. This seems to be a bait and switch service directed at those unfamilar with seo to get them intrigued. Gotta love those pesky seo emails selling dreams every day! We get quite a few of them here. Most go straight to the trash folder. Wonder what they tell the client when it doesnt work and they don't show up in auto suggest? lol

Bill, thanks for the great advice!