San Antonio attorney Martin Phipps, 57, was arrested Saturday night on a charge of making a terroristic threat against his 16-year-old daughter, the latest legal trouble for a once-prominent lawyer whose personal and professional life has been unraveling in public for years. Phipps was taken into custody at 8:45 p.m. and posted a $10,000 bond Sunday morning, according to police records described in the case.
According to the San Antonio Current, San Antonio police received the complaint from Phipps' daughter on August 16, and she alleged that her father directed threats toward her, per the Express-News. Phipps now faces a Class A misdemeanor charge for making a terroristic threat against a family member, and as a condition of his release, he is barred from possessing a firearm while out on bond. He is scheduled for arraignment on October 6.
Under Texas Penal Code § 22.07, a terroristic threat charge involving fear of imminent serious bodily injury is typically a Class B misdemeanor, but state law escalates it to a Class A misdemeanor when the alleged victim is a family or household member, according to Saputo Toufexis. That enhancement carries up to a year in county jail and a $4,000 fine. Phipps rose to prominence in San Antonio after helping Bexar County land a $14.5 million settlement in its lawsuit against opioid manufacturers.
A Family Conflict With a Political Backstory
This is not the first time allegations involving Phipps' children have drawn law enforcement into his personal life. In April 2024, then-District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte allegedly told Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar to go to Phipps' house after receiving what the record describes as concerning warnings about the safety of his own children, warnings tied to text messages from Phipps' child alleging he was “grabbing me and screaming.” Those messages were forwarded by Whyte's wife, an attorney representing Phipps' ex-wife in a custody battle, according to the San Antonio Report.
Phipps responded by filing a city ethics complaint against Whyte over the welfare check. San Antonio's Ethics Review Board voted 6-1 in August 2024 to issue Whyte a letter of reprimand for violating three city ethics rules, according to Texas Public Radio. The San Antonio Report also noted that Phipps had a long-standing personal relationship with both Whyte and Councilman Manny Pelaez, having previously served as their mock trial coach at St. Mary's University School of Law. Hoodline previously covered the ethics fight over that welfare check.
Prior Arrest Involving His Wife Was Dismissed
Saturday's arrest is not Phipps' first brush with a domestic allegation. San Antonio police arrested him in 2021 over accusations that he harassed his wife, Brenda Vega, who had worked as his legal assistant. That harassment case was dismissed in 2022 after Vega relocated to Mexico, per the case record.
A River Walk Empire Under Siege
Phipps' arrest comes amid a separate, multiyear legal battle over ownership of his River Walk building at 102 9th St. In November 2025, a San Antonio jury ordered companies tied to Phipps to pay more than $1.2 million in damages and attorney fees to CDC Enterprises LP, owned by his childhood friend Daren Connel, after a judge ruled CDC held superior title to the building, according to the Express-News.
In March, CDC Enterprises locked out Phipps' law firm and his rooftop bar, Paramour, over alleged unpaid rent and maintenance fees, prompting temporary court orders and leading Paramour to announce plans to seek a new location. Hoodline detailed the River Walk lockout fight in March.
Earlier Controversies at His Firm and in Academia
Phipps' professional record includes other episodes of turmoil. In January 2021, former law partner T.J. Mayes and five other employees resigned from Phipps' law firm and filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint alleging a hostile work environment and serial abuse of women, according to Texas Public Radio. That same month, the Express-News reported that county officials had criticized Phipps' firm for submitting an unauthorized expert witness report during the Bexar County opioid litigation without input from University Health's chief medical officer.
Separately, Phipps stepped down as an adjunct mock trial professor at St. Mary's University School of Law following a university investigation into an extramarital affair with a student, Texas Public Radio reported in March 2021. Phipps has not been convicted of the current charge and is presumed innocent as the case moves toward his October arraignment.
