We know that Miles Lanier was in the midst of a stirling military career when he was "recruited" into the private sector by Richard Villiers. Did their relationship begin much before this (i.e., they were friends from "back in the day") or had they only recently met? And when was this? When did Lanier leave the UCAS military and join Fuchi? Any ideas?

Anyone..?

Miles Lanier was a sniper in the UCAS army, this I recall.
The exact date he teamed up with Villiers I cannot, but you should find it in Blood in the Boardroom.
If you don't have it, I can tell you tomorrow.
+ scattered in novels and sourcebooks, you should find many info of interest of his personal involvment with the Villiers clan (not only Richard)

btw, wasn't he there from the very beginning with Villiers, when the guy owning the corporation whose tech allowed Villiers in Fuchi for a third of the shares, commodly met his fate, allowing Villiers to make his moves?

Villiers and Lanier became friend only after the former reached the position of head of Fuchi Internal Security (Blood in the Boardroom p.40). I have no precise date, except that he was already the head of security in Corporate Shadowfiles in 2054. And of course, since he was a sniper in the UCAS Army, that was after 2031. Maybe there's more in Target: UCAS.

Excellent, thank you--I actually own Blood in the Boardroom, but I must've missed that line (though I see it now). So, Lanier probably left the military for Fuchi somewhere between, say... 2040 and 2050?