Laura Fernandez

ATTORNEY - PARTNER

I was born and raised in suburban Milwaukee and moved to Madison to attend the University of Wisconsin in 1997, where I received a degree in journalism and mass communications. During a year studying abroad in Beijing, I interacted with many brilliant students attempting to get visas to study in the United States. Our conversations about their interviews and frequent visa denials laid a framework for my fascination with immigration law.

After college, my interest in immigration grew working in an industry with a large undocumented population. I later petitioned my then-husband, an experience that changed our lives and took me on a new path as I realized the need for effective legal representation among Milwaukee’s immigrant community.

In 2008, I returned to Madison to study law at the University of Wisconsin. I focused on immigration and criminal law, working as a student attorney assisting inmates at the law school’s Frank J. Remington Center and interning for several Madison-area immigration attorneys. I also worked as a bilingual legal assistant at Jewish Social Services.

I graduated from law school and opened my solo practice in 2011. In 2024, I merged with two wonderful colleagues to form Fernandez Chadwick & Crouse. Although I work in many areas of immigration law, my primary practice areas are waivers and consular processing, humanitarian relief such as U visas, Violence Against Women Act cases, and benefits of executive action such as DACA. I have volunteered with various community organizations in Milwaukee, including Voces de la Frontera and the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic. I have also served on the executive board of the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association from 2020 to 2024.

I am a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, ASISTA, and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyer’s Guild. I have written articles and spoken at various conferences around the country. I speak English and Spanish fluently. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my children, cats, friends, and family, cooking, swimming, and being outdoors.