William K. Lane III is the General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force. As the Chief Legal Officer and Ethics Official for the Air Force and Space Force, Mr. Lane provides oversight and guidance to 680,000 active duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian Airmen and Guardians. Mr. Lane additionally serves ex officio as Administrator of Wake Island.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Lane was a Partner with Wiley Rein, LLP, a Washington, D.C. based law firm. In his practice, Mr. Lane advocated on behalf of corporate and individual clients in a broad spectrum of appellate, constitutional, regulatory and complex commercial litigation.
During President Trump’s first administration, Mr. Lane served in the U.S. Department of Justice as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, representing agencies in federal court throughout the United States.
Prior to attending law school, Mr. Lane received a U.S. Army commission in 2008 and served on active duty until 2012 as a Cavalry Officer, before transitioning to the Maryland Army National Guard and ultimately the U.S. Army Reserve. During his time on active duty, Mr. Lane completed a combat deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
EDUCATION
2008 Bachelor of Arts, Government, magna cum laude, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
2008 Masters of Arts, American Government, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
2015 Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass.
CAREER CHRONOLOGY
1. January 2008–July 2008, Gadbaw Fellow, General Electric International Law and Policy Group, Washington, D.C.
2. May 2008–August 2012, Armor Officer, United States Army, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii (June 2010–June 2011, Deployed, Diyala Province, Iraq)
3. August 2012–October 2013, Armor Officer, Maryland Army National Guard, Annapolis, Md.
4. May 2013–August 2013, Summer Law Clerk, Institute for Justice, Arlington, Va.
5. August 2015–August 2016, Judicial Law Clerk, Hon. Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
6. February 2017–April 2017, Special Counsel for the Nomination of Justice Neil M. Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, D.C.
7. October 2016–January 2017; May 2017–January 2018; September 2018–April 2020, Litigation Associate, Kirkland and Ellis, LLP, Washington, D.C.
8. January 2018–August 2018, Judicial Law Clerk, Hon. Gregory G. Katsas, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
9. April 2020–January 2021, Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
10. May 2021–January 2026, Partner, Wiley Rein, LLP, Washington, D.C.
11. January 2026–present, General Counsel, Department of the Air Force, Arlington, Va.
PUBLICATIONS
Your Raisins or Your Life”: The Harrowing of the Takings Clause in Horne v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, 750 F.3d 1128 (9th Cir. 2014), 38 HARV. J. L. & PUB. POL’Y 761 (2015)
(Current as of January 2026)