Every veteran accepted for admission to the University of Georgia School of Law for the fall of 2020 will receive scholarship funds, Dean Peter B. "Bo" Rutledge said Wednesday.

This is the second straight year the law school has made that guarantee, calling it the "Butler Commitment."

The program was launched earlier this year to guarantee financial aid to 100% of veterans who matriculated in the fall 2019 entering class. The initiative and its expansion are supported by trial attorney and 1977 law school alumnus Jim Butler of Butler Wooten & Peak in Columbus, Atlanta and Savannah. Butler also helped establish the law school's Veterans Legal Clinic in 2018.

The clinic provides veterans in Georgia with free legal assistance they might not otherwise have access to or be able to afford. Much of the focus is on helping veterans with denied or deferred claims before the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The clinic also provides support to undergraduate veterans who work in the clinic through the VA work study allowance program.

"The law school is tremendously proud to be able to assist former military members as they seek to become lawyers and to advocate for others," Rutledge said in a news release Wednesday. "Jim Butler continues to strongly believe in those who have served our country similar to his father and brother, and the school is happy to honor the Butler family connection to military service in this manner."

UGA Law also participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program, Rutledge said, which allows institutions of higher learning to make additional money available to fund tuition and fee expenses that exceed the tuition and fees covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Under the program, the VA matches school aid contributions made to eligible veterans.