She completed her LL.M. (2002) and J.S.D. (2007) at the Yale Law School. Her LL.B. and B.C.L. are from the Faculty of Law at McGill University, where she graduated from the National Program in 2000. She clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2000-2001 for Justice Michel Bastarache. Professor Fernandez has had tenure since 2009 and was cross-appointed to the Department of History at the University of Toronto in 2015.