Nagala received her Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University in 2005 and her Juris Doctor from UC Berkeley School of Law in 2008.

[2] She was a law clerk for Judge Susan P. Graber on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2008 to 2009.

[1] From 2017 to 2021, she was the deputy chief of the major crimes unit in the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Connecticut.

[1] On June 15, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Nagala to serve as a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut to the seat vacated by Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant, who assumed senior status on February 1, 2021.

[5] On October 26, 2021, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 52–46 vote.