Her own expertise lies in environmental procedures and policy, and she will cover that part of the case if it is unlikely to be dealt with by other parties. However, she believes that it is a combination of her approach to strategy and local knowledge, which has accounted for successful results over the years. Local people have a key role to play in such battles: they are experts on the subject of the own patch. They are more than capable of supplying her with information from all manner of sources. Sometimes it is necessary to undertake their own research e.g. do a traffic count or social survey. Visual aids can be of great assistance in putting across an argument. Over the years her clients have made maps, compiled albums of photographs, made videos and produced compute mock-ups, all in the good cause of illustrating the problems likely to be caused by a given proposal. Dr Le-Las also uses local witnesses to speak from their experience of living in the area, and explain how a given proposal will impact on the community.

On occasions it is necessary to augment the team with an expert witness on technical or scientific issues e.g. traffic, waste management, acoustic modelling or ecology. Usually Dr Le-Las plays the role of both advocate and witness. Nonetheless, if it is necessary to cross-examine on a technical matter, she will suggest to the clients a barrister who is willing to work for a charitable rate. Dr Le-Las has a wide circle of professional contacts that may be brought into a given case, if required.