Our October Member Spotlight is Latevia Priddy! Latevia is a Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes, LLP and GAWL’s Vice President of Leadership. She attended NKU-Salmon P Chase College of Law.
Latevia’s practice focuses on general liability and insurance defense matters. Latevia has a broad background across a range of practice areas, including criminal defense and prosecution, personal injury, probate and estate planning, civil rights, labor and employment, consumer protection, family law, and business formation. She also serves as a Judge Pro Tem with the Fulton County Juvenile Court.
Latevia first became involved with GAWL in 2024 when she participated in the Leadership Academy. She shared that she was drawn to GAWL because of its commitment to developing, connecting, and supporting women attorneys. Her experience in the Academy was transformative and challenged her to think more intentionally about leadership, gave her permission to pivot professionally, and created genuine friendships and a community that made her want to remain actively involved in the organization.
Latevia is currently serving as GAWL’s VP of Leadership, where she now oversees the Leadership Academy and works with the committee to develop programming that equips women lawyers to grow as leaders both professionally and personally. Her favorite GAWL event is the Sneaker Ball as it creates an opportunity for women lawyers to connect and celebrate one another outside of their professional roles and build the relationships that make GAWL special.
Latevia believes that GAWL members can be intentional about creating opportunities, opening doors, and advocating for one another, not simply offering encouragement, but actively using our relationships and influence to help other women advance. That means mentoring and sponsoring women, making introductions, sharing opportunities, and creating safe spaces to have honest conversations about the hard, uncomfortable, and sometimes taboo topics within our profession that women may otherwise navigate in silence. She believes that women attorneys should be willing to talk candidly about the realities of leadership, compensation, burnout, bias, career transitions, failure, family, boundaries, and navigating spaces where women remain underrepresented. Latevia believes these conversations, coupled with meaningful mentorship, sponsorship, and access to resources, can equip women to navigate challenges more effectively and elevate them to the next level of their careers and leadership. To quote Latevia, “when we invest in one another, share what we have learned, and intentionally make room for other women at the table, we strengthen not only individual women lawyers, but our profession as a whole.”
Latevia shared that one of the most valuable lessons from her career is that a pivot is not a failure, it can be an act of courage, wisdom, and growth: “My career has not followed a perfectly straight path. I’ve practiced in different areas, served in different roles, and experienced seasons that required me to reevaluate what success and fulfillment looked like for me. Each transition taught me something valuable and, in ways I could not see at the time, prepared me for opportunities I never could have anticipated.” She therefore encourages other women to give themselves permission to pivot, to bet on themselves, to cultivate genuine relationships, and to never allow a difficult season, or difficult people, to convince them that their best opportunities are behind them. Sometimes growth requires the courage to leave what is familiar, ask for help, start again, or pursue an opportunity completely different from what you envisioned. Latevia shared that she has learned, and continues to learn, to resist the urge to make herself smaller and that no one has to wait until fear disappears to move forward. Courage is often simply showing up while your knees are still shaking.
“There are rooms waiting for the version of you who finally decides she will no longer shrink to fit them, walk in, head held high, and become her. You are that girl!” -Latevia Priddy
Email: l.priddy@icloud.com
Website: https://www.tysonmendes.com/
For more information on GAWL’s Leadership Committee or the Leadership Academy, please email: leadership@gawl.org
