Priscilla Blackadder

Priscilla has over 17 years’ experience in complex commercial litigation and dispute resolution, with specialist expertise in intellectual property, consumer law, media and regulatory matters. Her broader practice extends to corporate insolvency, employment, property law and leasing disputes, competition and consumer law, commercial fraud, and government regulatory matters.

She appears regularly in the Supreme Courts of Victoria and NSW, the Federal Court of Australia (including Full Court appeals), and intermediate courts and tribunals. She acts for corporations, government bodies, SMEs, and individuals in matters requiring strategic, technically precise and commercially informed advocacy.

Priscilla was admitted as a solicitor in 2009 and was first called to the NSW Bar in 2011. She was a licensee at Nigel Bowen Chambers for several years, specialising in intellectual property, media and commercial litigation. She later served as a Senior Associate and Special Counsel in a national commercial litigation practice, before relocating to Victoria and returning to the Bar in 2023.

Priscilla accepts briefs in all State and federal courts and tribunals, with a focus on:

• commercial litigation
• intellectual property and technology
• media and defamation
• insolvency
• consumer law
• employment
• property and leasing
• regulatory matters

Recent Matters

Intellectual Property 

• Acting in Federal Court proceedings involving alleged patent infringement, trade mark use, contractual licence disputes, estoppel, and misuse of confidential information.
• Acting in multiple copyright infringement disputes involving musical, literary, artistic, digital and audiovisual works, including unauthorised reproduction, synchronisation, licensing and derivative works issues.
• Acting in trade mark disputes involving deceptive similarity, opposition, non-use, brand protection and misleading or deceptive conduct arising from parallel branding.
• Acting in matters involving ownership of creative works, performers’ rights, unauthorised digital content use, and breach of confidence in commercial and employment settings.
• Advising technology and creative industries on authorisation liability, training dataset use, automated content scraping and IP issues arising from AI-generated works.

Media, Defamation, Digital Platforms and Broadcasting

• Advising on defamation, publication responsibility, digital reputation management and urgent content takedown strategies.
• Acting in matters involving compliance with the Broadcasting Services Act, comparative advertising rules, and ACMA regulatory investigations.
• Advising on contempt, suppression orders, open justice considerations, and media reporting frameworks in complex commercial matters.
• Assisting clients with issues arising from online harassment, cyberbullying, doxxing and social-media-based reputational harm.

Commercial Litigation & Corporate Insolvency

• Acting in corporate insolvency proceedings involving statutory demands, contested winding-up applications, mortgage and caveat priority disputes, defective guarantees, and enforcement of complex security packages.
• Acting for liquidators and administrators in disputes concerning voidable transactions, breaches of director duties, unfair preference claims and reconstruction of financial arrangements.
• Appearing in contested commercial matters involving repudiation, estoppel, misleading conduct, contractual performance, and high-value disputes arising out of multi-party commercial relationships.
• Advising on enforcement of facility agreements, default interest, mortgagee rights, possession proceedings, and the interaction of personal guarantees with corporate indebtedness.

Employment

• Acting in unfair dismissal proceedings, disciplinary matters, workplace investigations and internal review processes.
• Advising on breach of contract, confidentiality, restraints of trade, reputational harm, and employment-related misleading or deceptive conduct.
• Appearing in disputes involving misrepresentation, duties of fidelity, and employment contract characterisation.

Consumer Law/Competition Regulatory

• Acting in Federal Court proceedings involving allegations of misleading or deceptive conduct, passing off, and misrepresentation in national advertising and digital content.
• Acting in urgent injunction applications to restrain comparative and performance-based advertising.
• Advising on ACCC investigations, compliance reviews, section 87B undertakings, alleged cartel conduct, and product safety issues under Part 3-5 of the ACL.
• Assisting corporate clients with risk assessment of advertising campaigns, influencer marketing, substantiation obligations and claims made in digital media.

Property Law

• Acting in disputes concerning easements, restrictive covenants, contractual and equitable interests, and priority of interests under the Transfer of Land Act.
• Appearing in possession and mortgage enforcement matters, including applications concerning caveat validity, injunctions, fraud allegations, and statutory demand disputes connected to real property.
• Advising on lease vs licence characterisation, quiet enjoyment, non-derogation from grant, enforceability of covenants after assignment, and rent review provisions.

Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Emerging Technology

Priscilla has a particular interest and growing practice in the intersection of AI, intellectual property, commercial risk and professional ethics. She advises organisations on:

• AI-generated content and authorship
• copyright and trade mark implications of AI training datasets
• confidential information leak risks from AI tools
• consumer law risks in AI-enabled products and services
• model transparency, explainability and compliance
• professional obligations for lawyers using AI in practice
• governance frameworks and responsible AI deployment

She regularly presents on the impact of AI for lawyers, including:

• Foley’s List Commercial CPD Day – AI in commercial litigation, ethical risks, and regulatory developments
• Leo Cussen Centre for Law – AI in legal practice, risk management, drafting with AI, and ethics frameworks
• Professional seminars and firm training – AI and intellectual property, litigation risks, deepfakes, defamation, and evidence challenges

Her AI work complements her longstanding expertise in IP, media and consumer law, where emerging technologies are reshaping legal risk.

Earlier Notable Matters

Priscilla has acted in a number of significant national matters, including:

• Acting for the copyright owner of Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree in the copyright infringement dispute involving Men at Work’s Down Under.
• Acting for a multinational pharmaceutical company in urgent advertising injunction proceedings, that proceeded to trial (two Full Court appeals and a High Court special leave application).
• Acting for a major Australian media organisation in complex multi-party fraud and negligence litigation involving an international bank and a national law firm.
• Acting for the former CEO of an international company in a white-collar criminal prosecution involving bribery and corruption allegations.

Teaching, Mentoring and Academic Work

Priscilla currently tutors Property A at Monash University and undertakes external marking across property, consumer law and commercial law subjects.

She is also a regular external mentor and instructor at Leo Cussen Centre for Law, delivering training in advocacy, drafting, professional responsibility, litigation practice and the ethical use of emerging technologies in legal practice.

Qualifications

Master of Laws (Intellectual Property) (University of Melbourne)

Bachelor of Laws (Hons)

Bachelor of Arts (Music & Media)

At the NSW Bar, Priscilla read with Neil Murray SC and Christian Dimitriades SC.

Upon commencing practice at the Victorian Bar, Priscilla undertook a period of informal reading with Kate Beattie SC. 

CV provided on request