According to Cicero, a person could become a lawyer in 3 days if they really put their mind to it [Cicero, Pro Murena]. Cicero himself is considered a lawyer based off our standing right now, but he officially referred to himself as an orator, however a lot of what he wrote had powerful legal rhetoric in it (this also shows how little they were thought of b/c Cicero was a very vain person who would have labelled himself as a lawyer if this propelled his authority). Although his musings on the duration of a lawyers training is probably an over exaggeration, it breathes insight into how little standing lawyers had in ancient Roman times. Rogelio Pérez Perdomo in Latin American Lawyers: A Historical Introduction argues that lawyers in Roman times did not have to know vast amounts about the law, but just enough to answer basic questions asked by the jurisconsults.

Defendants and plaintiff's in ancient Roman times also had to represent themselves in court, and so this would greatly diminish the authority of the lawyer as we view in modern times, [x] (http://www.ancient.eu/Roman_Law/). They were able to seek the counselling of the lawyers beforehand, however through an act passed in 204BC, lawyers were unable to charge anything for their services (according to John A. Crook in Law and Life of Ancient Rome, this law was widely ignored). After the law was abolished by Claudius, a barr of 10000 sesterces was placed on how much lawyers (or advocates) could charge, this was apparently not a lot of money as Geoffrey C. Hazard in Legal Ethics: A Comparative Study makes note of the Satires of Juvenal complaining that there was no money in working as an advocate (or a lawyer).

If someone was truly interested in studying law and making a healthy salary, they would aspire to be part of the jurisconsults. These were the people well versed in the law and regularly gave advice, however Crook argues that this was not their primary source of income. The jurisconsults would also advise the judges before they gave out their verdict in court. They would also advise the lawyers and ordinary people in legal issues.

So, all in all, lawyers weren't that well respected in the community as they did not earn a lot of money (money = respect), and weren't that great with the law side of things to begin with. If you wanted to study law and earn a lot of money you'd try for the jurisconsults.