On Saturday, August 26, 2023, at 10:00 AM Central, Center for Advanced Legal Studies (CALS) will hold its 72nd Commencement Ceremony for graduates of its paralegal programs. Due to the large number of graduates who reside outside of the Houston area, this event will be presented via a virtual live stream to better acknowledge the accomplishments of all graduates. As always, CALS is committed to making this a special event for graduates and their friends and families.

A total of 101 paralegal credentials will be conferred. Paralegal Certificates will be awarded to 77 graduates, and Associate of Applied Science Degrees will be awarded to 24 graduates. Congratulations graduates on your hard work, dedication, and accomplishments.

The commencement address will be presented by Mischa Montgomery, Esq. Ms. Montgomery graduated from CALS with her AAS Degree in 2006, worked as a paralegal in areas such as family law, business, and commercial litigation, and continued her education at Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Mischa became an attorney in 2019. We are delighted Ms. Montgomery has agreed to provide the commencement address to our most recent graduating class.

The event will be moderated by CALS' Director of Outreach and Career Services, Tami Riggs, with contributions from members of CALS faculty and staff.

Landing An Interview Without Exact Experience

There is no place for inaccuracy on a resume or application, whether by fabrication, embellishment, or omission. Don’t make stuff up, twist information, or distort details to gain an advantage. This constitutes professional fraud. While a company is unlikely to pursue legal action in response to a bad-faith misrepresentation, it can be at risk of legal liabilities related to negligent hiring practices in some instances. Purposeful inaccuracies discovered on a resume will almost always result in a candidate being removed from the hiring pool. Any deception discovered post-hire, even many years into tenure, may also result in termination.

Below are 10 ways job seekers commonly adulterate their resumes and applications:

1. Misrepresent prior employment or duration
2. Omit jobs or the reasons for leaving them
3. Falsify job titles or responsibilities
4. Overstate involvement in or contributions to a project
5. Exaggerate the level of education attained
6. Claim to hold a degree, certification, or licensure not earned
7. Inflate mastery of skills and abilities
8. Assert conversational knowledge of a second language as fluency
9. Overinflate salary history
10. Give fake references

CALS holds academic honesty paramount for paralegal education. Students must learn to use citations when incorporating ideas and words from others and write with direct intent. To help students and faculty identify areas of improvement, CALS has partnered with a powerful plagiarism detection tool called Copyleaks. This tool will be available on submitted work through Canvas LMS beginning February 2023.