Biography
Joyce Novotny-Prettiman is an associate at the firm. Joyce is a member of the American, Pennsylvania and Westmoreland Bar Associations. After serving as the president of the Westmoreland Bar Association for one year, she currently acts as immediate past president of that organization. She also participates in the following committees of the Westmoreland Bar Association: Civil Litigation and Lawyers Assistance Committee (chair). She is also a member of the Ned J. Nakles American Inn of Court and serves as the immediate past president for the Inn. She has been elected to the Westmoreland Academy of Trial Lawyers and is a member of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice and the Western Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. She is also a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In regard to alternative dispute resolution matters, she has had mediation training and has been trained in the collaborative law process.
Ms. Novotny-Prettiman earned her B.A. in 1997 from Seton Hill College (summa cum laude) and her law degree from Duquesne University in 2000. She began practicing with the firm after her admission to the practice of law and is currently active in the areas of plaintiff personal injury litigation, long-term disability and general civil litigation.
Ms. Novotny-Prettiman was plaintiff’s counsel in the case of Gallagher v. GEICO decided by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in January 2019 which invalidates the “household exclusion” regularly used by auto insurance carriers to deny underinsured motorist benefits.
Joyce has a unique legal background. She was a legal secretary before obtaining her paralegal certification from St. Vincent College in 1989, and worked in the capacity of legal assistant until her admission into law school. While attending law school, Ms. Novotny-Prettiman worked as a law clerk at QuatriniRafferty.
She is also active in the community and volunteers as a member of the parish council and as a lector at St. Benedict Church. She is a member of the board of directors for Laurel Faith in Action which is devoted to helping residents in the communities of Latrobe, Derry, and Ligonier who are over 60 remain independent in their own homes, with dignity (www.laurelfia.org). She was a volunteer for CASA of Westmoreland from 2010 through 2020 which is an agency that works to give children a voice in the court system when circumstances have placed that child in protective services. She has also been appointed to the Westmoreland County Parks and Recreation Citizens Advisory Board.
A lifelong resident of Unity Township, Joyce currently resides in the Latrobe-Greensburg area with her husband, Daniel. She enjoys spending her free time with her family and friends and loves to practice yoga and to go for a jog to enjoy the outdoors. Summer is her favorite season and she has enjoyed jet skiing and boating for years which pastime grows from the many Sundays her father took her and her sister for boating adventures.
Bar Admissions
- Pennsylvania, 2000
- U.S. District Court Western District of Pennsylvania
Education
- Duquesne University School of Law, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- J.D. – 2000
- Seton Hill College, Greensburg, PA
- B.A. – 1997
- Honors: summa cum laude
- Major: Business Management
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Westmoreland Bar Association Board of Directors, Member and Immediate Past President
- Westmoreland Bar Association, Member
- Pennsylvania Bar Association, Member
- American Bar Association, Member
- Civil Litigation and Lawyer Assistance (chair) Committees of Westmoreland Bar Association, Member
- Ned J. Nakles American Inn of Court, Member and Immediate Past President
- Pennsylvania Association for Justice, Member
- Westmoreland Academy of Trial Lawyers, Member
- Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Member
Past Employment Positions
- QuatriniRaffertyGalloway, Law Clerk
Pro Bono Activities
- Member & Lector, St. Benedict Church
- Laurel Faith in Action – Past Member
- Past Volunteer, CASA of Westmoreland (2010-2020)
- Westmoreland County Parks and Recreation Citizens Advisory Board