yes, your lawyer is right. You will not able to check it. Only your lawyer can check with that number.
Yes you need to go back to college if worst case scenario. Labor approval is handled by Department of Labor and all other documents such as (I-140 and I-485) are handled by USCIS. USCIS will not consider your case as status seeking for permanent resident until they get case ( which is I-140 ).You can file H1b extension only after 140 approval not before than that. Good luck and keep checking trackitt.com. Believe me trackitt gives your lot of information