An immigration and family law specialist, Cordella founded Stewart & Co Solicitors & Privy Council Agents in 1990 as a general legal practice in North London. She has a strong interest in equality and human rights issues and has been a fee paid Immigration Judge since 2000. She is a founding member and director of BSN and a founding member of the UK Association of Black Judges, which launched on 1 July 2025 at the Supreme Court.
Cordella is a pioneering champion for social justice, working across many different sectors, including as an independent Governor of Staffordshire University, which awarded her an Honorary Doctorate. She is the current Chair of the Education Committee.
Her extensive management and leadership experience was recognised by the Chartered Management Institute which appointed her a Companion of the Institute. She was shortlisted as the Law Society Gazette Legal Personality of the Year in the Law Society Excellence Awards 2014 and is a Council Member of the Law Society representing BSN.
She is a non-executive director of IMPRESS, the independent monitor for the press. She was awarded the OBE for co-founding BSN, services to the legal profession and for voluntary service to diversity and education in the 2021 New Year’s Honours List.