Everything You Need to Know

Access Transcripts Pro is built for court transcriptionists who take their work seriously, regardless of where they are in their career. If you are just getting started, we can help you build the right foundation from day one. If you have been in the field for years and want an honest outside perspective on your work, we can give you that too. What we are not is a resource for someone looking for shortcuts. This is for the transcriptionist who wants to do the work well and build something that lasts.

After more than two decades in the field and years of growing Access Transcripts into a nationally recognized agency, Ilene and Lisa kept running into the same problem: there was no professional development resource for court transcriptionists that was built by people who actually do the work. Most of what existed was generic, outdated, or created by people whose connection to the field was academic at best. Access Transcripts Pro was built to fill that gap, to give every court transcriptionist direct access to the kind of substantive, experience-based guidance that simply did not exist anywhere else.

Most professional development resources in this field are general, passive, or created by people without direct court transcription experience. Access Transcripts Pro is none of those things. Every resource, review, and session is created and delivered personally by two of the most credentialed, actively working court transcriptionists in the country. There is no team of contractors behind the scenes, no recycled content, and no one-size-fits-all curriculum. What you get here is specific, honest, and grounded in real experience.

Ilene Watson and Lisa Luciano are the co-founders of Access Transcripts, LLC, a nationally recognized court transcription agency they built together from the ground up starting in 2013. Between them they hold five AAERT certifications: Ilene holds the CET, CER, and CDR, and Lisa holds the CET, CDR, and NJ AD/T. Ilene was named AAERT's 2022 Professional of the Year, chairs the AAERT Professional Development Committee, and is a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses graduate. Lisa serves on the AAERT Executive Board and is certified by the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts. They are not instructors who studied the field from the outside. They are working court transcriptionists who have spent decades doing this work every single day.

Because the field changes, and theory is not the same as practice. Ilene and Lisa are not drawing on what court transcription used to look like. They are in it right now, producing work for federal and state courts, managing an agency, and staying current with the standards, tools, and expectations that govern the profession today. When you get feedback from them, it reflects what is actually happening in the industry, not what a textbook said five years ago.

After purchasing the Transcript Review service, you will receive instructions for submitting your file directly to us. We accept standard transcript formats and will follow up with any questions before we begin.

Your transcript is evaluated across six professional categories: formatting, accuracy, verbatim standards, speaker identification, legal terminology, and overall presentation. You receive a written report with specific page and line references so you know exactly what to address and why it matters.

Each submission covers up to 25 pages. If your transcript is longer than 25 pages, we recommend selecting a 25-page section that best represents your work. Not sure which section to submit? Reach out before you purchase and we can help you decide.

Standard turnaround is within 5 business days of receiving your submission. If you have a time-sensitive situation, contact us before purchasing and we will let you know whether we can accommodate a faster turnaround.

Ilene Watson and Lisa Luciano review every submission personally. Nothing is outsourced. When you purchase a review, you are getting the eyes of two actively working court transcriptionists with over 45 years of combined experience and five AAERT certifications between them.

Either works. If you submit a real transcript, redact any identifying information for the parties involved before sending. If the transcript was produced under a contract with an agency or court, make sure you have that company's permission before submitting it to us.

Please do not submit a transcript that was provided to you as part of a test or audition for any company. Submitting a company's test file to a third party is a serious professional breach and could affect your standing with that company. A practice or sample file you produced yourself is completely fine and the feedback will be just as useful.

Anything related to your work or career as a court transcriptionist. Sessions are fully open: bring a transcript feedback report you want to discuss, ask questions about certification, talk through a client situation, work on your resume, or map out where you want to take your career. We follow your lead.

After purchasing, you will be directed to our scheduling page to choose a date and time that works for you. Sessions are held via Zoom. You do not need a paid Zoom account to attend.

Every session is with both Ilene and Lisa. You get both of us in the room, which means two perspectives, two sets of experience, and twice the value for your 60 minutes.

Absolutely. Many clients book multiple sessions over time as their needs evolve, whether that is following up on a transcript review, working through a new challenge, or checking in on progress. Each session is purchased and scheduled individually.

No certification is required. Our services are open to court transcriptionists at every stage: those just getting started, those actively working toward certification, and those who have been in the field for years and want to sharpen their work. If you are serious about this profession, you are in the right place.

Not at all. In fact, getting feedback early is one of the most valuable things you can do. Many of the habits and errors we see in experienced transcriptionists are ones that could have been caught and corrected at the start. If you are new, our free self-assessment is also a great first step to help you understand where you stand before you submit.

Yes, and often the most experienced transcriptionists find the most value in an outside perspective. Habits form over years, and it can be genuinely difficult to see your own work clearly. Even transcriptionists working at a high level walk away with specific, actionable notes they did not expect.

Both the Transcript Review and the Rent a Mentor session are $75 each. The Transcript Review covers up to 25 pages per submission. The Rent a Mentor session is 60 minutes via Zoom.

Yes. Gift certificates are available in the shop and make a great professional gift for a colleague, a mentee, or anyone working to build their career in court transcription.

If you have a question about a specific purchase, please reach out to us directly at [email protected] and we will work with you to make it right.

The first titles in the ebook series launch in April. You can sign up on the ebooks page to be notified the moment a new title is available.

The Professional Foundation Series includes three titles: On The Record (getting started in court transcription), Speak the Language (a comprehensive legal terminology reference), and The Freelance Edge (building and growing your freelance practice). Two standalone titles are also in the works: Anatomy of a Transcript and Workflow Mastery, both expected by early May. The series titles launch in April, with the standalones to follow shortly after.

The 2026 series runs across four sessions: May (Anatomy of a Transcript), June (Resume Review and Marketing Yourself), August (Workflow That Works), and October (Word Tips and Tricks). Registration details will be announced shortly. Sign up on the webinars page to be notified first.

We are pursuing CEU approval for the 2026 series through AAERT. Credit availability will be confirmed and communicated to registered attendees before each session. Sign up for notifications so you have that information as soon as it is available.

Yes. All registered attendees receive a recording after the live session. That said, we strongly encourage attending live. The Q&A portion of each session is where a lot of the most useful material surfaces, and you can't ask questions from a recording.