Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ling received a Bachelor of Laws from the USC Gould School of Law in 1913.
He was a Judge of the Superior Court of Greenlee County from 1927 to 1936.
[1] On May 28, 1936, Ling was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona vacated by Judge Fred Clinton Jacobs.
Ling was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 30, 1936, and received his commission on June 3, 1936.
Ling served in that capacity until his death on May 17, 1965, in Phoenix, Arizona.