Thanks Volker,
So after looking at the NULLIF function help section,
if the LastReqTime = '' , NULLIF will return a null to the query,
which I assume will stop the processing. If LastReqTime isn't
empty, LastReqTime will be returned to the query and the
processing will continue. TBH, I was trying to come up with
CASE/IF statements on my own, and not having much luck,
but your suggestion is elegant in its simplicity, which is how
I like to code; the fewer moving parts the better!