EEA family permit...and now??

Hi, i am italian resident in the Uk since 2005 and married with a non-EU who just got the EEA family permit on the 5/2/2013. We are very happy for the recent success,but now the question is..what's gonna happen next?I don't really know much about this matter,all i know is that the permit expires in August and my lawyer(we got one after the first refusal we had for the tourist visa we applied for) said we need to apply straight away for the 5 years resident permit. He asked me the same money i paid for the EEA permit..i have no idea what to do!
Where and how to apply for the resident p.?
Is it necessary and worth it to carry on with the lawyer?(i have to admit that we applied for the family p. and after exactly 1 week we got the stamp!
Can my wife work in the meantime with the family p.?(Why would a company accept to hire someone who has a stamp expiring in August 2013??)
Please i really need advice,it's a very complicated world of laws and rules i have no idea about!Thanks a lot
Alfonso

when fp holders enter uk .has to apply EEA2 as family member of eu citizen card which will be alid for 5 years . upon successful application work and business will e allowed for non eu citizen family member.

More than 12 month old thread!