A New York lawyer who pleaded guilty to securities fraud involving inducing some $3 million from investors through his litigation-funding firm has been disbarred, according to a disciplinary opinion and a Justice Department news release.

Jaeson L. Birnbaum, who was admitted to the state bar in 2003, has been stripped of his law license under a state statute that triggers automatic disbarment when a lawyer commits a felony in a U.S. district or territory that if committed in New York state would likewise constitute a felony, wrote the Appellate Division, First Department court in a decision disbarring Birnbaum nunc pro tunc, or retroactively, to Sept. 28, 2021, the date of his guilty plea in federal court.

Birnbaum, who represented himself in the disciplinary matter and who never responded to an attorney grievance committee motion to disbar him, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison at his upcoming sentencing, according to the disbarment opinion, the DOJ news release and news reports.