Bernal received his Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Yale University in 1986.

He received his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1989.

He worked as a litigation associate at the law firm of Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe LLP in Los Angeles from 1991 to 1996, where he focused on complex civil litigation.

From 1996 to 2012, he was a deputy federal public defender in the Central District of California, serving at the Los Angeles office from 1996 to 2006 and serving as a directing attorney at the Riverside office from 2006 to 2012.

[3] The Senate confirmed Bernal in a voice vote on December 11, 2012.