Talent Acquisition

OutKick Hires Columnist Matt Calkins After Seattle Times Exit

OutKick Hires Columnist Matt Calkins After Seattle Times Exit

New York – September 19, 2026 -- OutKick has signed Matt Calkins, the former Seattle Times sports columnist who resigned in August after the paper declined to publish his column on two female student-athletes opposing competition against biological males.

Calkins brings eleven years of Seattle Times coverage and three National Sports Columnist of the Year titles to OutKick

Calkins covered local college and professional sports plus national events including the Super Bowl and World Cup during his tenure at The Seattle Times. He previously worked as a preps writer at the Riverside Press-Enterprise and as a columnist at the San Diego Union Tribune. He joins OutKick immediately as a columnist covering sports and culture.

Mayer Brown Hires Ashton, Bates to Boost Private Placement Practice

London – September 17, 2026 -- Mayer Brown has recruited Scott Ashton as partner and Brian Bates as senior counsel into its Capital Markets practice, adding two attorneys who have represented issuers on roughly 30 percent of total cross-border U.S. private placement debt issuance in recent years. Both will be based in the firm's London office.

New hires specialize in cross-border private placements for infrastructure and energy funding

Ashton and Bates focus on cross-border securities offerings, representing issuers and placement agents on debt and equity transactions. Their practice centers on advising non-U.S. entities placing private debt with U.S. and other large institutional investors and pension funds, a funding channel that continues to expand for infrastructure and energy projects.