WASHINGTON, D.C.-Mark H. Weber has been appointed Acting United States Trustee for Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska (Region 18) for an interim period effective on December 29, 2001, Martha Davis, Acting Director of the Executive Office for United States Trustees, announced today. Weber replaces Jan S. Ostrovsky, who has joined the Seattle law firm Crocker Kuno LLC.

Weber has been the Regional Assistant U.S. Trustee for Region 18, headquartered in Seattle, since 1992. He served as Acting U.S. Trustee for the region from 1993 to 1995. Before joining the United States Trustee Program in 1984, Weber worked for the Minneapolis firm of Thomson, Lovett, Wahlfors & Moran Ltd.

Weber received his law degree from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minn., in 1980, and his undergraduate degree from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., in 1971.

The U.S. Trustee Program is a component of the Justice Department that protects the integrity of the bankruptcy system by overseeing case administration and litigating to enforce the bankruptcy laws.