Joseph Melilli came to the Victorian Bar in 1992 and has practised exclusively in family law ever since. The register records a current Victorian practising certificate as a Barrister, with two areas of practice — family law and alternative dispute resolution — and Italian as a language of practice. Doyle’s Guide publishes the surname as “Mellili”; the Victorian register, the Holmes List clerk and the barrister’s own profile all spell it Melilli.
Doyle’s Guide ranks Joseph Melilli as one of only three Preeminent Victorian family law mediators in 2026, in a list of twenty-nine across three tiers. That is the fourth Preeminent listing in five years — 2022, then 2024, 2025 and 2026 — in a list where Doyle’s has included the same name in every edition since 2017. There are also earlier listings in the Victorian family law junior counsel, parenting barristers and family law barristers lists. Doyle’s rankings are produced by peer survey, and this profile is not a paid placement.
Background. The Holmes List profile says the practice has covered both matrimonial and de facto matters since 1992, that mediations are conducted regularly, and that the accreditation held is Accredited Advanced Mediator. The profile also records the Doyle’s 2025 Preeminent family law mediator listing.
Joseph Melilli’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 Joseph Melilli, from 2017 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. Leading from 2017 to 2021, Preeminent in 2022, back to Leading in 2023, and Preeminent again in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Doyle’s spelled the name “Joe Melilli” in 2017, “Joe Mellili” in 2018 and “Joseph Mellili” from 2019; the 2017 listings record Owen Dixon Chambers East, and every edition since records Holmes List.
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.
The Holmes List profile and the Victorian register together describe the practice as:
How a barrister is engaged. Barristers in Victoria are ordinarily briefed by a solicitor rather than retained directly by a client, and are booked through a clerk — here, Holmes List. The profile is brief by the standards of the solicitors on this page; nothing has been added to it here.
Source: the Holmes List profile, reviewed 15 September 2026. Practice areas are as published by the practitioner or the firm. This site does not verify outcomes in individual matters.
Joseph Melilli 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 spelling. Searching the Victorian register for “Mellili”, the spelling Doyle’s publishes, returns no results; “Melilli” returns a single entry. We have kept the Doyle’s spelling in the ranking rows below, because that is how the ranking was published, and used the register spelling everywhere else. Barristers in Victoria are sole practitioners, which is why the “practising at” field shows a personal name rather than a firm.
Holmes List is a barristers’ clerking list, not a law firm. It handles bookings and administration for independent barristers who remain sole practitioners. Doyle’s also ranks Peter Young AM KC of Holmes List as Preeminent in the same 2026 Victorian mediators list — two of the three names in that tier are on this list — and Martin Bartfeld KC as Leading.
Doyle’s does not rank clerking lists in its family law firm rankings, so there is no firm-level tier to report, and there is no firm Google Business Profile that would be meaningful for an individual barrister.
The register records the address as Melbourne VIC 3000. Bookings are made through Holmes List.
Barristers are normally briefed by a solicitor. If you do not yet have one, our matching service can put your matter in front of a family lawyer who can then brief counsel if your matter needs it.
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