Michael R. Bloomberg, the multibillionaire businessman drawing on his personal fortune to bankroll a Democratic bid for the presidency, paid the law firm Venable nearly $700,000 in the final months of 2019 as he made a late entry into the race.

Bloomberg, who served from 2002 to 2013 as mayor of New York City, also hired Willkie Farr & Gallagher, spending $75,000 on “legal consulting,” according to his campaign financial disclosure, his first since entering the race for the White House.