Emma studied philosophy and law at Western University, where she was awarded the A.T. Little Scholarship and Gold Medal for achieving the highest grades in the JD program.

While at Western Law, Emma developed a love for legal research and cultivated interests in varied areas of law. She worked as a research assistant to Professor Thomas Telfer in bankruptcy and insolvency law and legal history, undertook an independent research project studying Canadian courts' advisory jurisdiction, and was a researcher and later a student coach in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. She received several academic awards, including course prizes in constitutional law, tort law, administrative law, and civil procedure.

Emma articled at Lenczner Slaght LLP in Toronto and is a member of the Ontario bar. She has spent the past two years clerking in Ottawa, first at the Federal Court of Appeal in the Chambers of Justice Woods, and most recently, at the Supreme Court of Canada in the Chambers of Justice Jamal.