Davor Žilić was born on 6 May 1959 in Sarajevo, where he graduated from the Law School. Upon graduation he worked as an intern in the joint law firm of Vojo Meketrović and Anton Ler in Sarajevo. Having passed the bar exam in 1986, he worked as an attorney in the joint law firm of his principals. In the period from 1989 until 1995 he was an independent attorney in Sarajevo. He performed judicial function in the period from 1995 until 2000, first as the judge of the Military Court in Mostar, and from August 1995 as the judge of the Municipal Court in Mostar. In 1998 he was elected the president of the Municipal Court I in Mostar. From 2000 until the appointment to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina he worked as a coordinator for supervision at the Securities Commission of the Federation of BiH.