Sotheby's has been an occasional adviser to Ms. Walton.

One of the law firm's partners is Sid Davidoff, a friend, occasional adviser and regular tennis partner of Mayor David N. Dinkins.

"9/11 was huge; it had to be responded to," says William Kristol, an occasional adviser to the White House and editor of The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine.

Professor Brinkley, it should be noted, is a sometime admirer of the President and an occasional adviser to the Democrats.

'Still Have a Ways to Go' Paul Maslin, a Democratic poll taker who is an occasional adviser to the Dukakis campaign, agreed.

Mr. Leibner said his long experience entitles him to be an occasional adviser.

In 1981, when a leftist government was voted into office, he became an occasional adviser to the new prime minister, Pierre Bérégovoy.

A Harvard professor has proposed an alternative to the introductory economics class taught by an occasional adviser to President Bush, saying that students deserve a more balanced view of the subject.

Dodge has also served as an occasional adviser to U.S. general David Petraeus in Iraq.

"He thinks like a senator," says Lyn Nofziger, Mr. Dole's occasional adviser.