Patrick Vlačič was born on 22 February 1970. After graduating from the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana he gained his LL.M. in maritime law from the Faculty of Law in Split, Croatia, and his PhD in transport law from the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. From 1995 to 1997 he was a trainee clerk at the Higher Court of Koper. In 1998 he passed the bar examination. From 1997 he worked at the Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport, where he became Assistant Professor of civil and commercial law. He was also Head of the Department for Maritime and Transport Law.

Between 2002 and 2004 he was the Director of Portorož Airport, and for part of 2004 advisor to the Minister of Transport. He has participated in various research projects (e.g. unmanned airplanes), lectured abroad and written several articles. He is the author of the book 'Omejitev višine odgovornosti v prevoznem pravu' [Limiting Liability in Transport Law], editor of the book 'Pomorsko pravo' [Maritime Law], co-author of the textbooks 'Prevozno pravo' [Transport Law] and 'Temelji poslovanja špedicije' [Introduction to Shipping Operations], and co-author of the Road Transport Contracts Act with an introductory commentary and the Electronic Commerce and Electronic Signature Act with a commentary.