Are you an Outlaw? Meet Nat Slavin

Who has redefined what it means to think outside of the law (AKA Outlaw) and is helping each of us in the process?

Meet Nat Slavin, founder and CEO of ClientSignal™, a client relationship intelligence platform for the legal market, and a partner in Client Insight Ventures, a consulting practice serving law firms.

For more than three decades, Nat has been the advisor law firms turn to when they want to truly understand their clients. He has conducted thousands of confidential conversations with general counsel, corporate counsel, and C-suite executives, uncovering what clients really think about their firms, what drives loyalty, and what puts relationships at risk. Through ClientSignal, he now enables firms to harness those insights and client sentiment across the legal ecosystem at scale.

Nat is an elected fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and a Legal Marketing Association (LMA) Hall of Fame inductee. He served as President of the LMA International Board of Directors in 2007, as a board member from 2003 to 2007, and as President of the West Region.

He was Publisher of InsideCounsel until 2026, when he led the sale of the business to a private equity firm and got lucky with the timing of his exit from the print media business.

He lives in Newport Beach, California with the aforementioned Cheryl Bame and their son Lucas.

Below is a recent interview conducted with Nat. Enjoy getting to know this Outlaw!

Q: What is your idea of happiness?

A: The obvious one: time with Cheryl and our son, Lucas. More specifically, exploring new things and seeing the world through his eyes.

Q: Who is your real-life hero?

A: I could never stack one person against another, so mine is a collective avatar: the handful of people who’ve always been there, who reach out and offer a hand when I’m most vulnerable or stuck. I know I can call them at any point, and they’ll always pick up. What I’m most grateful for? They know who they are, and they never keep score.

Q: What is your motto?

A: Unless it’s a real competition, never keep score.

Q: Where would you like to live?

A: Physically, exactly where I live now. Mentally, in the present.

Q: What is your greatest fear?

A: Not having the courage to take chances.

Q: If I could have one super-power, it would be…

A: Teleportation. I’ve done my three million miles on planes, and I still love to travel.

Q: Who are your favorite authors / what are your favorite books?

A: Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, David Baldacci, Russell Banks, Alexandra Carter, Ernest Cline, John Dickerson, Dave Eggers, Ralph Ellison, Joshua Ferris, Vince Flynn, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Adam Grant, Mark Greaney, John Grisham, Gregg Hurwitz, Daniel Kahneman, Barbara Kingsolver, Steve Martin, Cormac McCarthy, Danny Meyer, Ben Mezrich, Toni Morrison, Thomas Pynchon, Christopher Reich, Keith Richards, Jose Saramago, Zadie Smith, Scott Turow, Jeff Tweedy, Andy Weir, Don Winslow, Tom Wolfe.

Q: What got you into working in the legal industry?

A: While bartending full-time post-college, I took a job in 1992 as an unpaid intern at a startup legal publishing company because a friend who was in that role left to move to Hong Kong to be a paralegal at Skadden. I owe her my career.

Q: Your favorite musician or band?

A: Wilco. Easiest question I’ve been asked.

Q: What is your current state of mind?

A: Optimistic.

Q: Your favorite virtue?

A: Honesty, tied with integrity, with a sprinkle of courage mixed in.

Q: What would you consider your greatest achievement?

A: Lucas.

Q: If I won the lottery tomorrow, I would…

A: Finish realizing the potential of ClientSignal.