No asylum applicant should not have a Lawyer
Most applicants do not have a valid case but it gets them an EAD and a SSN, many seem to find a USC to marry
If refused by USCIS then they will end up in Court and it will be for an IJ to decide. Usually this takes many years.
I was watching Hackings show on You Tube a week or so ago, there was a lady on there, she had a UK regional accent with a bit of something else thrown in, she had come in on the VWP and applied for Aslum a few years ago and her case had gone through the system and been denoed but she had found someone to marry.
Anyone can apply for asylum, I alwayswondered if I could have made a case.