A judge and instructor for the Universal Cheerleaders Association, which produces cheerleading competitions and camps, Ms. Colombo was hired as a consultant, charged with making sure the show's intricate and potentially dangerous cheering maneuvers are done accurately, dramatically and safely.
Jeff Zients, a management consultant charged with fixing the website, says that his team has fixed more than 400 bugs, deployed 12 large servers, redesigned the network's firewall and made many other changes.
As Marianne Boesky, whose Chelsea gallery now retains her as a consultant charged with helping to identify new talent, explains: "Clarissa is one of the most open-minded people I've ever met.
The consultant charged the city only for out-of-pocket costs, like travel expenses, but not for things like the production of the reports or the hours logged in preparing it.
In 1953, the Oscars were broadcast on television for the first time, and lest you think actresses of that day were more demure than today's crop, a worried academy appointed costume designer Edith Head to be the program's first "fashion consultant," charged with making sure no one ran afoul of the censors.
But there are still plenty of political consultants charging the contenders big money based on their experience, and lots of veterans offering their own free advice.
These consultants charge an hourly fee of $90 to $160, which is not reimbursed by insurers.
"People are going to say that funds of funds are expensive or consultants charge a fee," Mr. Shain said.
At Nemo Tile, the staff architectural consultants charge a fee based on the cost of a sample.
Some of the advocates have questioned whether the banks were getting off too easily because they selected and paid the consultants charged with examining their loans.
