It was 1984 when Elaine Lipka graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. A year later, she completed studies at the Institute for Paralegal Training before beginning her career in the field. At a young age, Lipka became a paralegal, serving the office of Montgomery, McCracken, Walker and Rhoads Law through the Litigation Paralegal Philadelphia. Lipka was responsible for managing and maintaining important litigation documents, analyzing pertinent materials and trial exhibits, indexing depositions and other activities pertaining to the legal assistance of the firm's attorneys.
But staying in a role as a paralegal was not Lipka's desire. Rather, she used this as a stepping stone to her career -- one that would bring her into a nationally critical job.
From her paralegal position, Lipka took on a role within probation and parole for four years before moving onto the United States Courts, working with them from 1989 to 1991. In 1991, she would change paths into an education that would change everything; she studied at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, soon thereafter beginning her career with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Elaine Xydis Lipka continues with the FBI today as a special agent, bringing expertise across research and investigations into daily assignments, particular across counterterrorism.