Bill Lockyer earned a Teaching Credential from CSU in Hayward, then worked for his father's roofing firm and as a forklift driver at Ward's before landing his first job with the Legislature on the staff of Assemblyman Robert W. Crown. Bill Lockyer received his J.D. from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in 1986. Bill Lockyer began his political career as a member of the San Leandro Unified School District's School Board, as chair of the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee, and as California coordinator for Senator George McGovern's presidential campaign in 1972.

Bill Lockyer initially won a State Assembly seat in a Special Election on September 4, 1973, following the untimely death of his political mentor, Bay Area Assemblyman Robert W. Crown. He remained in the Legislature for the following twenty-five years, spending more than half of that time in the state senate, where he was elected President Pro Tem in 1994, the most important position in the upper legislative body.

Bill Lockyer took law school studies in Sacramento in his spare time and graduated from the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific.