Joyce Novotny-Prettiman

Call 888-534-6016 or contact us to schedule your FREE Case Review Joyce Novotny-Prettiman is an Associate practicing in the areas of Plaintiff’s Personal Injury and Long-Term Disability. She excels at guiding clients as they rebuild their lives after catastrophic accidents and working on their behalf with claims against insurance companies. She knows when she needs to fight for fair compensation. For clients with extensive injuries and a long recovery period, Joyce’s knowledge of Long-Term Disability is an asset. She can call on other Quatrini Law Group team members when Social Security Disability or workers’ compensation claims may be applicable. Joyce has been trained in mediation and in the collaborative law process – skills that serve not only in formal alternative dispute resolution settings, but also when negotiating on her client’s behalf. In Gallagher v. GEICO Joyce successfully represented the plaintiff before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The Court held the “household exclusion” used by auto insurance carriers to deny underinsured motorist benefits violated the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law (MVFRL), getting her client the underinsured motorist benefits and the protection he paid for from the auto insurance carrier. Joyce earned her B.A. in 1997 from Seton Hill College, summa cum laude, and her J.D. from Duquesne University in 2000. Boasting a unique legal background, she began as legal secretary before obtaining her paralegal certification from St. Vincent College in 1989. She continued to work in the capacity of paralegal until her admission into law school. While attending law school, Joyce worked as a law clerk at QuatriniRafferty and she became an attorney with the firm upon her admission to the practice of law. Joyce is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA), and the Westmoreland Bar Association (WBA). Especially active in her local bar association, she has served on a wide range of committees and held various leadership positions, including President of WBA in 2019-2020.  She is the current chair of the Lawyers Assistance Committee and co-chairs the Wellness Committee.  She is a member of the editorial staff of The Sidebar and is also a member of the Planning, Women in Law and Civil Litigation Committees. Joyce a member of the Ned J. Nakles American Inn of Court, serving currently as Treasurer and was President of the Inn in 2020-2021. Joyce is a member of the Conference of County Bar Leaders Executive Committee, a PBA group dedicated to training bar leaders and fostering innovative bar initiatives. 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, an association only open to trial lawyers who have won million dollar verdicts and settlements.