Wendy Sylva has been ranked by Doyle’s Guide in the Melbourne family and divorce list in every edition since 2015, and holds the top tier in all three Victorian lists she appears in for 2026. She is a Law Institute of Victoria Accredited Specialist in Family Law and holds a current Victorian practising certificate as a Principal with Trust at Kenna Teasdale Lawyers Pty Ltd. The register records the widest spread of practice areas of anyone on this list — family law, family violence and statutory offences, civil litigation, general litigation, and wills and estates.
She is one of five lawyers ranked Preeminent in Doyle’s 2026 Melbourne family and divorce list, and one of five Preeminent for high-value and complex property matters in Victoria. She is also Leading in the national family and divorce list, where she has been ranked every year since 2018. Doyle’s reserves the high-value list for lawyers with a track record in matters where the contested net asset pool exceeds AUD $100 million or where complex commercial, property, estate planning and taxation structures are involved. Doyle’s rankings are produced by peer survey, and this profile is not a paid placement.
Background. Her firm biography describes her as an industry-leading family lawyer known for expertise across all legal and financial aspects of family law, specialising in complex property disputes, contested children’s disputes and the preparation of financial agreements. Her qualifications are listed as a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Laws from Monash University, with accredited specialisation in family law from the Law Institute of Victoria. She is a member of the Family Law Section and the Law Institute of Victoria.
Wendy Sylva’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 Wendy Sylva, from 2015 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. Her Melbourne listing has moved between Leading and Preeminent six times in twelve years — Leading 2015–2017, Preeminent 2018–2019, Leading 2020, Preeminent 2021, Leading 2022–2024, Preeminent 2025–2026 — but she has never dropped out of it. The high-value property list has been a one-way climb, Leading from 2020 to 2023 and Preeminent since 2024. She was ranked in the parenting list from 2018 to 2025 and is not in the 2026 edition.
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.
Her firm biography names the following specialisations:
How the firm describes itself. Kenna Teasdale says it provides “industry-leading legal advice and first-class representation to help families achieve positive resolutions to complex family disputes, both in and out of court”, and it also runs a commercial law and litigation practice. It 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.
Wendy Sylva 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.
Kenna Teasdale Lawyers works from Level 2, 114 William Street, Melbourne. Besides family law it runs a commercial law and litigation practice. Doyle’s also ranks firm lawyers Stephen Gregory, Sam Marash and Aaron Peppin in its 2026 Melbourne family and divorce list.
The firm itself is ranked. Doyle’s places Kenna Teasdale Lawyers in the First Tier of its 2026 Melbourne family law firm rankings. The firm’s Google Business Profile carried a 4.1 rating from 9 reviews when we retrieved it on 12 September 2026.
The register records her address as Melbourne VIC 3000. The firm’s published number is +61 3 9670 5991 and her biography gives the email wendy.sylva@kennateasdale.com.au.
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Firm-level rating aggregated from Kenna Teasdale Lawyers’s Google Business Profile, retrieved 2026-09-12. Reviews are of the firm, not an individual rating of Wendy Sylva. View on Google →
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