A suggestion by President Barack Obama to shrink the duration of law school could buoy the case of people who long have questioned whether law students really need a third year of academic study.

But the idea comes as law schools already are struggling with declining enrollment and could be reluctant to cut into their sources of revenue.

The main path to law practice in the U.S. is by earning a J.D. degree, which takes most full-time students three academic years to complete. Elite law schools began adding a third year of study at the turn of the previous century, and other schools soon followed suit.

In the first two years, students generally take courses covering the basics of law, such as contracts, property and antitrust. The third year often is devoted to more-specialized electives or clinical courses.

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