William Mershon Lanning (January 1, 1849 – February 16, 1912) was an American lawyer, jurist, and Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1903 to 1904. He later served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States Circuit Courts for the Third Circuit.
William Mershon Lanning
Born 1849 in Mercer County, NJ
Died 1912 in Trenton, NJ
FJC ID: 1342
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 8/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 5/year
New Jersey District Court · 1904–1909U.S. Circuit Courts for the Third Circuit · 1909–1911Third Circuit Court of Appeals · 1909–1912
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Private practice, Trenton, New Jersey1880–present
- U.S. representative from New Jersey1903–1904
![Trenton [New Jersey] City District Court](/images-webp/courts/new-jersey-district-court-logo.webp)
Judge · 1887–1891- Trenton, New JerseyCity solicitor · 1884–1887
Appointments
1909–1911 · Appointed by William H. Taft (Republican)Term ended: Abolition of Court- 1909–1912 · Appointed by William H. Taft (Republican)Term ended: Death
- 1904–1909 · Appointed by Theodore Roosevelt (Republican)Term ended: Appointment to Another Judicial Position
Education
- Read law1880