Jason --
I know it's a broad brush.... but there are so many lawyer jokes for a good reason... and the contractor brush is wide because there is good reason. The problem for joe public is finding a good one and if you don't, you're stuck. One of my brother in laws is a contractor. Not one single person in the family would use him - if he was free... We call him "20 minute job". Everything he looks at only takes 20 minutes. Unfortunately for him - it also looks like it.
There should be a contractors group where only the good contractors can get in -- so the public has a place to go to find good ones.
My neighbor found out about "bonding" when their contractor built their custom home... which turned out to be a complete disaster... as in - they had to re-do the siding - the windows - the roof and much of the electrical. The "bond" (which the contractors always point out in their advertising "we're bonded"!) is for a lousy 4 grand. When they sued for recovery - he just folded the business and started a new one under a different name. They also discovered that while they need "inspections" at each step along the way... they mean nothing and the inspectors have ZERO liability.