Isabela Maculan

Isabela qualified as a solicitor in September 2024 following completion of her training contract at Dawson Cornwell. She is a dual-qualified solicitor and Brazilian lawyer.

Isabela spent her first year as a trainee working in the firm’s Children Department and the second year in the Matrimonial team. Her experience includes matters with an international element, both in relation to children and financial remedies. Isabela has assisted in several cases in the Family Division of the High Court and the Court of Appeal, including high and ultra-high net worth cases involving complex business structures and high-profile individuals, international child abduction and wardship proceedings, and relocation and cross-border child arrangements.

Isabela has also developed a practice in modern family matters and issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community, including international surrogacy and disputes involving alternative family structures.

Isabela holds a Master of Laws degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, with a specialism in public international law, alongside an undergraduate degree in law from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil. Isabela achieved a Distinction in her Legal Practice Course, which she obtained in conjunction with a second Master of Laws degree. Isabela is also the published author of a book on same-sex marriage in Brazil and of several articles in family-related matters.

She trained as a mediator in Brazil and is a member of the YRes division of Resolution, committed to a constructive approach to family disputes. She is also a member of the Westminster & Holborn Law Society.

Prior to joining Dawson Cornwell as a trainee, Isabela worked as a paralegal at a city law firm, assisting in matters across all areas of family law. She was also a volunteer Student Adviser and Student Director of BPP’s Legal Advice Clinic for family law from 2019 to 2022.

Isabela is fluent in Portuguese and Italian.