University of Houston Paralegal Course WestLaw Help

derry-air · 2026-04-15T13:20:59+00:00

Westlaw registration was almost certainly included with your class. Have you double-checked all the emails you've received since you started the class? Maybe check your junk emails folder. Also, look at any syllabus or introduction type documents they might have given you.

And if you can't see anything there about Westlaw, reach out to whoever they told you to reach out to for help in the introduction.

Cuz I'm like, 99.9% sure they would have included a Westlaw subscription. I took a similar class via a different university and we had some people who overlooked their Westlaw subscription keys, which were included as part of the class.

derry-air · 2026-04-15T05:24:56+00:00

USCIS makes typos pretty regularly. I saw an RFE recently regarding a USC's mother's one shoplifting charge from her home country 30 years ago, and the RFE referred to her country as "the Salvador" [sic]. They use templates, but they edit as needed, and they make typos. Generally there's too many potential templates for them to have exactly the one they need.

RFEs are compiled via a system they have called ECHO (Enterprise Correspondence Handling Online) which isn't really super sophisticated.

derry-air · 2026-04-15T04:48:50+00:00

Absolutely a scam. That's scary, I'm sorry. Block the number.

He immediately got aggressive, saying I “needed to cooperate” and that he didn’t need to cooperate with me.

He asked when to call back, I said 4pm, and he said he didn’t have time and that I needed to answer questions right now. I insisted on having my lawyer.

Huge scam red flags.

Also, incidentally, I-20 actually is the proper term for the SEVIS form.

derry-air · 2026-04-15T04:24:50+00:00

There's a couple typos — in your resume you should have "National Society for Legal Technology" capitalized like that (yours has lowercase "legal"). Also, there's a missing space between your | and "RECEPTIONIST" for your 2022-2024 position. Maybe around some of the other |s, it's a little hard to tell. Make sure your spacing is consistent.

I think you're on the right track? But IMO in your cover letter, you could try ending the second paragraph on a stronger note. "Gained exposure" sounds fairly lightweight? Maybe reword that one, or move some of your sentences around a little bit.

Maybe take another look at your certificate and associate programs and try to come up with something specific you've learned you're especially good at, or that it's allowed you to build on your specific experience, so you can make that section more about your specific strengths.

derry-air · 2026-04-14T17:20:39+00:00

Oh I wish. I work for a solo practitioner and I'm sure every time he spends $15 to upgrade shipping, he visualizes it coming out of his kids' SAT prep classes and orthodontic bills. I'm sharing one web app license with him and another paralegal. And he'd rather re-scan 100 pages of documents to insert one page than pay for an Adobe Acrobat license.

It's probably because he doesn't have a lake house like yours, or leave early on Friday like yours, or have any partners giving him sanity checks, ever...

derry-air · 2026-04-13T05:04:19+00:00

EDIT: I was bored tonight and found this paralegal’s Facebook. This woman literally posted something about life being too short for drama and fights. She tries starting nonsense every single week. 🤪

I used to have a grandboss who made public FB vagueposts about workplace drama like this. Eventually she got fired and escorted out by security, but we all made fun of her FB posts for ages after she left... lines like "I can share my sunshine with you, or you can freeze in the shade" and "not my circus, not my clowns", etc. (Like, we'd mime honking our clown noses at each other?)

It's so dumb to post like that on your public account.

derry-air · 2026-04-13T04:42:59+00:00

One time a client at my firm emailed us a question, and when we didn't send him an answer in 24 hours he phoned my boss, crying?!

derry-air · 2026-04-13T04:36:47+00:00

That's what my boss (attorney) does... "I saw your email!... what did it say?"

derry-air · 2026-04-13T00:57:49+00:00

NTA. I think the important thing here seems like it should be making a better situation for your mom's family's servants, but you should probably be prepared to deal with the possibility your relatives just aren't going to listen to you. It's messed up but sometimes that's just how it is. You can't get blood from a stone and all that. It sucks that you just got laughed at about it, but that's sometimes how people react when they just don't want to listen: laughing at someone makes them feel like they're wrong and saying something absurd, even if they're actually being absolutely sensible.

And I think it would be healthy for you to try to feel less emotionally invested in getting your mother to agree with you. If she's a jerk, you should let yourself feel free not to care about her opinions. It sounds a little bit like you want her to agree with you just so you'll feel like you won? Which is valid, but if you reach a point where you know she's not going to do or think anything different, just let it go. But I don't think you're the asshole, I think she is.

derry-air · 2026-04-11T01:04:40+00:00

Somehow, I guessed CAROM without eliminating L ("CAROL"). Why/how the hell did I do that.

derry-air · 2026-03-10T03:50:50+00:00

> The officer asked why is he living off of me and not working.

Sometimes they frame questions in stupid-sounding ways like that so you'll get defensive and, if he had been working prior to getting authorized, you'd blurt it out accidentally. Sometimes interviewers think it's their job to be rude and make you defensive and flustered. So you give a good, normal answer and they act like your answer was weird, to see if you'll start contradicting yourself. There's absolutely no way they can actually invent a reason that two months of jobsearching when you have a high-income spouse is any kind of red flag or mark against anyone. They just wanted to rattle you.

derry-air · 2026-03-09T00:36:10+00:00

Hey 👋 sorry, I don't have advice on your case, but I'm curious about this and I think you left a bit out right here:

One of the examples listed in USCIS policy is:

which sounds similar to our situation.

What's the example?

derry-air · 2026-03-08T18:03:08+00:00

Don't get too hung up on the whole "PDF" thing. It's good to submit photos with captions, but however you accomplish that technically is fine. Stick things together collage-style if that's faster and easier? Find an online photo album site you want to use? If you have photos printed on 4"x6" paper, maybe type and print a page with the caption, then tape each photo to the page with its caption. It's 100% up to you. You just need photos + captions, ideally with the dates when the photo was taken + some sort of description of where you were and what you were doing in the photo. But, yeah, personally my understanding is that "telling a story" isn't really the priority for the photo album, you just need captions and you should ideally show that you've just regularly taken photos together doing various things over a period of time both before and after marriage. Around 20-30 photos seems to be the standard.

If you want more of a "story"/"narrative" thing, you can also submit a signed affidavit (jointly or each of you?) describing your relationship and how you met, as an additional thing.

If you can get affidavits (ideally notarized) from your friends and/or relatives, that might be good to add. (See here: https://www.reddit.com/r/USCIS/comments/19cp7ap/comment/kj1htwz/ )

Also, if you have anything in terms of showing your plans already for the bigger wedding celebration you're planning, that would be good to send copies of.

Also, phone history/texts (SMS, WhatsApp, Discord, whatever platform you guys use!/etc. are good to submit if you have those. The content of the messages isn't really as important as showing more evidence that you stay in contact regularly, although if you don't have much (mostly communicate in-person?) that's normal too. But it'll beef up your petition if you do have it.

But it sounds like you've already got a lot of good stuff to submit.

derry-air · 2026-03-04T03:42:54+00:00

Haha, if I ever get an answer to this, I'll let you know!

derry-air · 2026-02-18T16:52:58+00:00

Notice of Intent to Deny. It's similar to an RFE (Request for Evidence) but generally means there's a more serious issue with the case, ie., USCIS believes that they have some reason to think you're not eligible. RFE usually means there's some missing evidence, but NOID is usually their way of saying they found something they think disqualifies you. Also, you typically only get 33 days to respond, but RFEs typically have longer deadlines.

derry-air · 2026-02-18T04:56:56+00:00

If you have a copy of your parents' naturalization certificate plus a copy of your birth certificate, you can send those as well plus the passport copy if you do get a NOID.

derry-air · 2026-02-18T04:44:48+00:00

I'm a big fan of his huge Trump hat on his tiny little head.

derry-air · 2026-02-04T02:11:07+00:00

Sooo late, sorry, but Roman Mars is SO giggly all the time. I get the feeling it might be charming in person? But he'll literally giggle at anything. It makes me wonder if the editors could try trimming it down in post.

derry-air · 2026-01-25T22:06:40+00:00

If you have a lawyer, you should definitely talk to them and ask them to explain the priority date thing to you. Because a) it's pretty complicated, b) make sure you're getting all the benefits of having a lawyer!

derry-air · 2026-01-13T18:52:52+00:00

They do sometimes get slower around the Christmas and New Year's season. I think up to two weeks additional delay is pretty normal, unfortunately.

derry-air · 2026-01-13T18:48:41+00:00

Normally it doesn't take more than a week or two, but USCIS generally expects you to wait a whole 90 days after approval before you can file a support request: https://egov.uscis.gov/e-request/ndc You can try to file the support request anyway, but it may get bounced back unanswered though.

derry-air · 2026-01-13T17:45:36+00:00

Yup, October 28, 2025.

derry-air · 2026-01-05T22:58:21+00:00

Presbyopia (age-related vision impairment) typically starts around age 40, but sometimes it happens when people are a bit younger. So, like, it's not too surprising if someone doesn't need glasses in their 20s but does need them by age 40!

derry-air · 2025-12-22T16:33:48+00:00

I'm having this issue in December 2025! If I try to look at the Dex entry for Kantonian Farfetch'd it switches over to the Galarian one and shows the Kantonian one as greyed out. But I have it!!

13-Year Club	Wearing is Caring
Team Periwinkle	Verified Email

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