HCR Legal LLP
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-10)

We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.

The Armed Forces Covenant

An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families

The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.

Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.

This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.

Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant

1.1 We HCR Legal LLP will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment

2.1 HCR Legal LLP recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- Armed Forces Friendly
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- Flexible Leave For Spouses
- UK Reservists
- UK Cadets
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
We also pledge the following:

-Advertise all suitable vacancies with the CTP, local Garrison Resettlement Officers and Armed Forces friendly recruitment organisations; Offer guaranteed interviews to all veterans who meet the minimum selection criteria for the role; Continue to offer pro-bona resettlement training to those in transition by working with Resettlement Officers and organisations such as the Officers Association, the Army and Navy Club, the SF Club and the RAF Club; -offer pro-bono training to Service spouses and partners via existing programmes, such as the Supporting the Unsung Hero Programme·, continue to offer flexible working opportunities for service spouses and partners, for example by allowing flexible working hours, at home working, part-time working, as appropriate,· adapt and apply our policies accordingly to ensure, as far as possible, that Service spouses and partners are not disadvantaged, for example by allowing additional leave to be ta.ken before and after deployments and allowing unused leave to be carried over and used in accordance with spouse and partner leave rotations,· Seeking to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve Forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible. In particular we w1’ll,· offer a guaranteed interview to all members of the Reserve Forces who meet the minimum requirement for the role,· train our managers to understand the benefit of employing members of the Reserve Forces,· actively promote the employment of Reservists both within our own organisation and with our clients and contacts, for example by publishing articles, biogs, advice notes and case studies - highlighting the transferable skills and experience of those 1n the Reserve Forces,· introduce our existing staff to careers in the Reserve Forces by supporting Exercise Reserve Challenge on an annual basis and providing paid leave for staff to attend the challenge in order to learn more,· offer 15 days’ additional paid leave to staff who are members of the Reserve Forces as defined in the HCR Reserve Forces Training and Mobilisation Policy,· -extend our reserve forces training and mobilisation policy to cover cadet force adult volunteers within our employ; .;, where appropriate, seek to use local cadet forces at our Defence and Security Events in order to show case their skl’l/s,· offer priority to members of the cadet forces when a/locating work experience places,· Promoting Armed Forces Day and Reserves Day through a week long internal communications campaign across our business. We will also further promote both events and Armed Forces Week in general by way of external communications such as biogs and articles etc. and by joining in national campaigns such as “salute our forces’;· . Encouraging employees to volunteer and raise funds for Armed Forces Charities through the Harrison, Clark Rickerbys Solicitors charitable trust and other charitable initiatives and via our paralegal and trainee group,· Continuing to offer a discount of between 5 and 15 % on our services to members of the Armed Forces Community,· T Continuing to provide a dedicated pro-bono helpline for legal advice for members of the Armed Forces Community as part of our Military Welfare Service,· Providing pro-bona legal drop in clinics via local Garrison Welfare Offices,· Supporting the West Midlands Regional Employer Engagement Group,· Asking all of our suppliers and contractors to sign up to the Armed Forces Covenant and, where possible, prioritising those who are already signatories when awarding contracts for services,· ! Promoting the Armed Forces Covenant to our contacts and clients where appropriate and signposting them to organisations such as the Reserve Forces & Cadets Association in order that they might show their support,· Offering pro bona places to serving Armed Forces personnel, those in their transition period and those who have recently left the forces, who wish to attend the Three Counties Defence and Security Expo (3CDSE) -Hosting public signing days at our events (such as 3CDSE) where appropriate, in order to encourage our contacts and clients to sign the Armed Forces Covenant themselves and show their support.

2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.