Tatum "Tate" Hilmoe

Tate has spent over two decades advising organizations, much of that time inside the organization. He has served as outside counsel and as Chief Legal Officer to several technology companies. Privacy law, AI governance, and general business matters are his focus. This includes predictive systems and automated decision-making, which are critical to understand for regulatory frameworks such as the EU AI Act, FTC Act, state privacy laws, and other emerging AI-specific requirements. 

"Privacy and trust are accelerators for business. The questions we need to be asking ourselves around privacy are: what did our systems predict, and what did we do with it?"

In February 2026, Tate published Privacy After Prediction: Redefining Privacy for a Post-Human Speed World ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQLFHGMB) - a book for executives, policymakers, and technologists on why the legal infrastructure built around check-the-box consent and data collection was never designed for systems that predict behavior rather than observe it, and what that shift requires from compliance, governance, and policy.

Tate speaks on predictive harm, data minimalism, and AI governance for legal, policy, and executive audiences, including university programs. He has served as guest lecturer for MBA programs at both Cal State San Bernardino and Pepperdine.

Outside the office, he prioritizes family time, sails a Hobie whenever the wind cooperates, and maintains strong opinions about local taquerias.

• Chief Legal Officer to Proto
• Chief Legal Officer to Pasqio 
• Chief Legal Officer to Justifire Technologies
• Chief Legal Officer to M8 Systems
• Prior In-house corporate counsel to TSI (life science, manufacturing, & tobacco)
• Represented Los Angeles area SaaS company in its stock sale to a competitor.
• Represented Miami based tobacco company with its nationwide licensing and overseas manufacturing.
• Represented Southern California based plastic recycling manufacturer with its acquisition of a competitor.
• Represented privately owned holding company with the sale of its multiple retail outlets in San Diego.
• Represented Maryland based cannabis company in its acquisition by a nationwide cannabis conglomerate, in a cash for stock transaction.
• Represented Los Angeles based SaaS company develop and deploy its stock incentive plan for employees and exit plan for one of its founders.
• Represented San Diego based medical device company in the asset sale of its patents and other intellectual property in a cash transaction.
• Represented Orange County based golf manufacturer with its stock buyback and the reincorporation into Delaware as it moved operations out of CA.
• Successfully represented Los Angeles based distributor with a $10M fraud action in Superior Court.
• Successfully defended Los Angeles based distributor from an 80+ defendant Lanham Act claim in the Northern District of California.
• Represented mid-size companies on a variety of matters, including master service agreements, data privacy and general issues related to corporate governance.

Tate graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in Economics. He received his J.D. from Thomas Jefferson School of Law on scholarship and during that time was a visiting student at Pepperdine University School of Law, Malibu, CA. 

Tate received his Privacy Law and Data Protection Certification from the University of Pennsylvania.

• California
• Maryland
• United States District Court - Southern District of California
• United States District Court - Central District of California
• United States District Court - Northern District of California