[2] In 1975, Cordell was the first person in the Western United States to serve as the Earl Warren Intern at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

In 1990, Cordell founded the African American Donor Task Force to increase Black participation in the national bone marrow registry.

[22] The commission was established after 3 correctional guards allegedly beat to death mentally ill inmate Michael Tyree in the City of San Jose's jail.

[23] The commission's final report included 120 recommendations to protect inmates' rights, and was accepted by Santa Clara County's Board of Supervisors.

[24][25][26][27][28] In 2018, Cordell led the opposition to the voter recall campaign of fellow Stanford Law School graduate, and Santa Clara County Judge, Aaron Persky.

[39] From 1969 to December 17, 2020, non-residents faced jail time or fines up to $1,000 for visiting the City of Palo Alto’s Foothills Park.

[40][41] Upon publication of her book in 2021, Her Honor: My Life on the Bench...What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It, Cordell was interviewed as the guest on the KQED radio program Forum, and discussed a number of the problems she considered to be present in the legal system.

Immediately following the release of the 408-page Report of Independent Investigation[49] into a litany of transgressions, the Board of Supervisors called for Sheriff Christina Corpus to resign, and fired her Executive Director, Victor Aenlle.