I'm confused as to why a summary offense conviction would show up on a state background check. I've had a summary offense conviction and it never showed up on a state or FBI background check, although it did show up on other searches, such as on the searchable state magisterial court website if you searched for my name and birthdate. Are you sure the harassment charge was a summary offense, not a misdemeanor?
Your attorney was somewhat right, somewhat wrong when he told you that a summary offense would not result in a record. Technically a summary offense is considered to be a nontraffic citation, not a criminal citation, so it doesn't create a technical "criminal record". However, it does still create a record, because employers can still find it if they search far enough for it, just like they can find any traffic violation tickets if they searched far enough for those too. Most employers don't care to check that far, and are more concerned with misdemeanors and felonies than they are about summary offenses, aka "ticket offenses". But jobs in some areas, such as education or law, do in fact care very much if you have anything more than a simple traffic/moving violation on your record. They will ask you to disclose it, and also check your records to make sure you are telling the truth.
As far as expungement. I do not know which state you are in, which is important, because laws vary from state to state. In my state of Pennsylvania, summary offenses only recently became eligible for expungement. Nowadays if you go five years from the date of summary offense conviction with no arrests at all, you can get the summary offense expunged. I think other states follow similar policies but you have to check. You do not need a lawyer to check this out or to even apply. If you're eligible in your state to expunge the summary offense, you do not need a lawyer to do it. In my state, each county literally posts an instruction and form packet on the Internet explaining how to expunge the record yourself. All you have to do is print the forms, fill them out, and send them in with several stamped envelopes and a $120 expungement fee. The process just involves patience, locating the right forms, and being assertive (e.g., you might need to phone the clerk of courts or district attorney's office to ask a question, since not everything is clearly spelled out in the expungement directions). But I definitely would not pay a lawyer to do that, unless you are financially well-to-do and lack the time to do it yourself. This is not a murder trial you need representation for, this is a paperwork process for a small-time ticket offense.
