AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 9, 2025--
Jackson Walker is proud to announce that Jeff Oldham, one of Texas’s most accomplished appellate lawyers, has joined the firm as a partner in our Austin and Houston offices and as firmwide chair of our appellate practice.
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Jeff’s arrival further strengthens Jackson Walker’s appellate section, following the recent addition of former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht and building on the leadership of Justice Jennifer Caughey, who chaired the firm’s appellate group from 2019 to 2025 before returning to the bench on Houston’s First Court of Appeals.
Jeff brings to Jackson Walker a record of achievement and leadership that places him among the very best in the field. He graduated first in his class from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, clerked for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist on the United States Supreme Court, and has argued and won cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Texas, and appellate courts nationwide. Jeff also served as General Counsel to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, where he managed high-profile litigation, provided strategic counsel on matters of statewide importance, and led a team of attorneys handling a wide variety of legal and policy issues.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jeff Oldham to Jackson Walker,” said Firmwide Managing Partner C. Wade Cooper. “Jeff’s credentials are second to none – he is recognized as one of the top appellate lawyers in Texas and the nation. His experience before the highest courts, his leadership in government, and his commitment to excellence will be invaluable to our clients and our firm. Jeff’s arrival, following the addition of Chief Justice Hecht, cements Jackson Walker’s position among the premier firms for appellate advocacy in Texas.”
W. Ross Forbes, Jr., chair of the Trial & Appellate Litigation section and partner, added, “Jeff’s reputation as a brilliant advocate and strategic thinker is well known throughout the legal community. He has handled some of the most significant appeals in recent years, and his insight will elevate our already outstanding appellate team. We are excited to have him join us as we continue to build on our tradition of excellence.”
On his decision to join the firm, Jeff said, “I’m very excited to join Jackson Walker and lead such a distinguished appellate group. The firm’s collaborative approach, its deep roots in Texas, and its excellence in appellate and trial advocacy make it the ideal place for this next chapter of my career. I look forward to contributing my experience to the firm and its clients, and to working alongside such a talented group of lawyers including leaders like Chief Justice Hecht.”
Jeff earned a B.S.B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Tulsa, and his J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.
Meet Jackson Walker
Since Jackson Walker’s founding in 1887, our attorneys have represented some of the most influential companies and business leaders in the world. Today, we remain firmly rooted in Texas while serving clients around the globe. With more than 500 attorneys, we are the largest firm in Texas and have been recognized by Law360 as a “Texas Powerhouse” and an “elite law firm” that regularly provides counsel to industry-leading clients. Jackson Walker’s trial group is one of the largest in the Southwest, comprising about 30% of the firm’s more than 500 attorneys. To learn more, visit the Trial & Appellate Litigation practice page.
Jeff Oldham
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 21, 2026--
Rapaport, the trusted pricing and market data authority for the natural diamond market, today announced a comprehensive company rebrand designed to unify its pricing, trading, market intelligence, auctions, and news platforms under a single master brand.
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As the cornerstone of this transition, RapNet, the industry's largest online diamond trading network, has officially become Rapaport Trade.
The transition marks Rapaport's evolution from a suite of individual business units into a connected ecosystem built around how diamond professionals actually work. For the first time, professionals will engage with a unified ecosystem where benchmark pricing from the Rapaport Price List, market intelligence, and access to more than 1.8 million natural diamonds across a global trading network work together. The result is a more connected workflow that helps buyers and sellers make faster, more confident decisions.
For existing RapNet members, the transition to Rapaport Trade is completely seamless. All user accounts, network connections, direct chats, and active inventory listings remain fully intact and operational with no required action from users.
"The market is changing, and professionals in this industry need tools that reflect that," said Dan Mano, CEO of Rapaport. "Bringing pricing, trading, news and market intelligence together under one platform helps professionals work faster and make better decisions. Rapaport Trade is the practical result of that."
"Diamond professionals need to move fast, and they cannot do that if they are forced to bounce between disconnected tools to check pricing data, vet suppliers, and source stones," said Benzi Kluwgant, CMO at Rapaport. "RapNet is now Rapaport Trade because we are harnessing the resources and data of Rapaport, integrating our core technologies into a more powerful sourcing workflow. We are giving the industry a practical sourcing engine where pricing intelligence is connected to the ability to buy and sell natural diamonds directly, with no middlemen."
The rebrand reflects a broader, more technology-based and data-driven approach at Rapaport — building tools that respond to how professionals actually operate in today's market and positioning the company to serve the industry with greater speed and precision going forward.
The newly unified Rapaport ecosystem and the transition to Rapaport Trade will be showcased at the JCK Las Vegas show. CEO Dan Mano will discuss the company's strategic direction during the annual Rapaport Breakfast presentation on Sunday, May 31, followed by Martin Rapaport’s annual industry address.
Rapaport Trade will continue rolling out practical, data-driven tools designed to help professionals manage inventory and sourcing decisions more efficiently. These include Rapaport Polaris, a supply-and-demand pricing dashboard that gives manufacturers and suppliers visibility into cutting and sourcing decisions, and Rapaport SellerIQ, a buyer engagement analytics platform that shows sellers how buyers are engaging with specific inventory across the network.
Rapaport Trade remains exclusively dedicated to natural diamonds. Rapaport's mission — to safeguard the prosperity of the natural diamond economy — is the foundation of everything the company builds. That means an unwavering commitment to natural diamonds only, ethical sourcing, and transparency across the global supply chain. The transition to Rapaport Trade is a direct expression of that mission.
For more information, visit rapaport.com.
About Rapaport
Rapaport Group includes Rapaport News, delivering industry-leading content across digital platforms, including news coverage, interviews, editorial features, original storytelling and branded content initiatives; Rapaport Analysis, providing in-depth research on the global diamond and colored-gemstone markets, including demand and pricing trends and the benchmark Price List for diamonds; Rapaport Trade (formerly RapNet), the world’s largest online diamond- and gemstone-trading marketplace, with over $8 billion in daily diamond, gem and jewelry listings; and Rapaport Auctions, the world’s largest recycler of diamonds. Additional information is available at www.rapaport.com.
Rapaport Announces Group-Wide Rebrand to Lead the Diamond Industry's Evolution in a Changing Market, with RapNet Transitioning to Rapaport Trade
