Ben Sayer co-founded Sayer Jones and is one of the small number of Australian lawyers whose practice centres on surrogacy, fertility and adoption law. He holds a current Victorian practising certificate as a Principal with Trust at Sayer Jones Pty Ltd, where the register records him under his full given name, Benjamin Sayer. Family law is the only area of practice recorded against his name.
Doyle’s Guide has ranked him Preeminent for parenting and children’s matters in Victoria every year since 2021 — six consecutive editions — and he is one of six in that tier in 2026. He has also been Recommended in the Melbourne family and divorce list in every edition since 2019. Doyle’s describes the parenting list as identifying lawyers highlighted for complex parenting and child custody disputes, including work as an independent children’s lawyer in matters involving family violence or abuse. Doyle’s rankings are produced by peer survey, and this profile is not a paid placement.
Background. His firm biography describes more than two decades of practice across all areas of family law, and says his previous experience as an Independent Children’s Lawyer informs his work in matters involving family violence and other circumstances requiring protective arrangements for children. He holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Science, is admitted in the Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court of Australia, and sits on the advisory panel of the Association of Fertility and Surrogacy Professionals. He is a member of the Law Institute of Victoria, the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia, the American Bar Association and LAWASIA.
Ben Sayer’s current rankings, from the 2026 edition of Doyle’s Guide. Firm affiliation is shown as published by Doyle’s. Every earlier edition is set out in the full ranking history below.
Doyle’s Guide publishes a separate annual list for each practice area and state, so one lawyer can hold different tiers in different lists in the same year. Below is every published Doyle’s listing we could verify for Ben Sayer, from 2019 to 2026, with the tier reached in each edition. Each list was opened individually on doylesguide.com on 15 September 2026 — no run of years has been inferred from a single page.
What the record shows. Both of his listings start in 2019 and neither has a gap. The parenting list moved up once — Leading in 2019 and 2020, Preeminent every year since 2021. The Melbourne family and divorce list has held him at Recommended for all eight years, which is the pattern you would expect of a lawyer whose reputation sits in a specialist corner of the jurisdiction rather than across general matrimonial work.
Years are the edition years Doyle’s publishes. Where a year is missing from a run, the practitioner was not in that edition of that list, which we confirmed by searching the page rather than assuming it. See also our hub of Doyle’s-ranked Melbourne family lawyers.
His firm biography describes a practice in three parts:
Reported cases. His biography names several judgments in which he acted, including matters concerning leave to proceed to adopt, entitlements of third-party respondents, costs, and sole parental responsibility where family violence and coercive control were in issue. Those are his firm’s statements about his involvement; this site does not verify outcomes in individual matters, and a lawyer’s role in a reported case is not a prediction about yours. The firm does not publish fees.
Source: the firm’s biography page, reviewed 15 September 2026. Practice areas are as published by the practitioner or the firm. This site does not verify outcomes in individual matters.
Ben Sayer is listed on the Victorian register of lawyers maintained by the Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner. The entry below is reproduced as it appeared on 15 September 2026.
A note on the name. The register records him as Benjamin Sayer; Doyle’s Guide and his firm use Ben Sayer. Searching the register for “Ben Sayer” returns nothing, which is why the full given name is shown here.
Sayer Jones is a family-law firm in the Melbourne CBD that he co-founded. Doyle’s also ranks Will Jones as Leading in its 2026 Melbourne family and divorce list and Recommended for high-value and complex property in Victoria, and Paula Pfingst as Recommended for parenting and children’s matters.
The firm itself is ranked. Doyle’s places Sayer Jones in the Third Tier of its 2026 Melbourne family law firm rankings. The firm’s Google Business Profile carried a 4.6 rating from 36 reviews when we retrieved it on 12 September 2026.
The register records his address as Melbourne VIC 3000. His firm biography gives the number +61 3 9641 2000.
We are not his office and cannot make appointments on his behalf. Contact the firm directly, or use our matching service if you would like us to put your matter in front of a family lawyer.
Firm-level rating aggregated from Sayer Jones’s Google Business Profile, retrieved 2026-09-12. Reviews are of the firm, not an individual rating of Ben Sayer. View on Google →
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