ALBANY – A state appeals court forbade U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand – and more than 1,000 other attorneys – from practicing law after they allegedly failed to submit new registration forms in New York.

The Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court issued the mass suspensions on Thursday, writing that the lawyers failed to follow a rule that requires them to re-register every two years unless they resign from the bar, are disbarred, or die.

A senior staffer for Gillibrand said the senator let her law license lapse after she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 with no intention of returning to the practice of law. It was unclear why the court only took action on the registration lapse two decades later. Gillibrand was appointed to the Senate in 2009 and won election the following year.

The Attorney Grievance Committee for the Third Judicial Department made a motion for the suspensions to the appellate justices, who followed through with the discipline on Thursday. The court order includes 66 pages of attorneys who were suspended from practice, a number that totals nearly 1,200. Such reviews and mass suspensions have been carried out in two-year intervals.

Approximately 96,000 lawyers are admitted to practice in the Third Department, which comprises 28 counties spread across the Capital Region, eastern Adirondacks, Catskills, upper Hudson Valley and the Southern Tier. Lawyers based outside the department, state or nation can register to practice in the department. But registration carries the obligation of biennial renewal, which carries a $375 fee.

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To end the suspensions, an attorney must file for registration with the Unified Court System and then seek reinstatement through its Office of the Legal Profession.

In its order, the court noted it “has repeatedly and consistently held that an attorney’s failure to comply with his or her registration requirements is professional misconduct warranting the imposition of discipline.”

In New York, lawyers register to practice law in the state and then must file registration statements every two years. The obligation to register is triggered by the attorney’s birth date, though a 30-day grace period is allowed.

The law applies to all lawyers admitted to practice in New York, regardless of whether they live in the state.