Attorney Martin Phipps' law firm and swanky rooftop bar have been locked out of a River Walk building for allegedly failing to pay rent.

Phipps' firm and Holy Spirits LLC, which does business as Paramour cocktail bar, received notices on Monday that they were locked out of the building at 102 Ninth St. in downtown San Antonio.

"Your rent is delinquent," reads a notice in bold capital letters on a white sheet of paper taped to a door leading to Paramour. "The locks on the premises have been changed."

The lockouts mark the latest entanglement for Phipps, who built the 30,000-square-foot building in 2014 and put his name on it before running into financial troubles. In 2024, Phipps alleged his firm and Paramour were forcibly locked out of the building.

Phipps and his Austin lawyer, Craig Eiland, couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

On Monday, Paramour posted on social media that it would be closed from Tuesday through Thursday. Updates would be given on Instagram and Facebook, the bar added.

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Texas Property Code permits a commercial landlord to change the locks on a tenant who is delinquent in paying rent. Written notice must be placed on the tenant's front door stating how and where to get a new key when the rent is paid.

San Antonio lawyer Glenn J. Deadman, attorney for building owner CDC Enterprises LLC, said similar language also is in the lease agreements the tenants signed.

CDC had given Phipps' law firm and Holy Spirits a credit for the rent following a transfer of the property from Emet LLC, a Phipps company, to CDC in 2022.

But as part of the rent, tenants are charged for common area maintenance, which includes property taxes, insurance, cleaning and other items. It's those charges that haven't been paid, Deadman said Tuesday.

Phipps rose to prominence after representing Bexar County in a 2018 lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, resulting in a $14.5 million settlement.

In 2024, he lodged an ethics complaint District 10 Council Member Marc Whyte over abusing his office for calls and texts made to Police Chief William McManus in April of that year over concerns that Phipps was allegedly physically abusing one of his two children during a court-ordered visit.

The Ethics Review Board later decided 6-1 that Whyte violated sections of the city's ethics code. He was issued a letter of reprimand and ordered to complete ethics training.

The lockouts come about four months after a San Antonio jury directed Phipps to pay more than $1.2 million in damages and attorneys' fees to CDC. The company is led by Fort Worth businessman Daren Connel, Phipps' childhood friend.

"Since the judgment, they've paid nothing towards the common area maintenance," Deadman said of the tenants. The judgment, which was entered Nov. 24, also hasn't been paid.

Neither Phipps or his counsel have contacted Deadman since the lockouts, Deadman said.

Deadman said it was reported to him that Phipps was removing items from the building last week.

"We certainly know that there was a moving truck there taking out artwork, fridges, freezers, that type stuff," Deadman added. "That's what prompted the lockout."

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In late December, Phipps and related parties filed a motion for a new trial. They alleged various "irregularities" related to the case that "raised red flags as to potential misconduct."

In the motion, Ryan Anderson, general administrative counsel for the state District Court in Bexar County, is alleged to have contacted an investigator working for Phipps. The investigator was informed that Anderson had been had been instructed by the court to contact jurors who served in the case to address alleged "serious concerns" that "the investigator had ‘misrepresent[ed] the Court's role,' ‘harass[ed],' and ‘intimidat[ed]' jurors,'" the motion said.

The motion added that the court's communications with jurors constituted ex parte contact - without notice to Phipps and related parties - and violated "core principles of judicial impartiality."

Anderson, in an email, said he had been asked by the court to remind jurors that they were not required to speak with anyone regarding their jury service. He provided a Nov. 20 letter he sent to the investigative firm, saying its investigator had "no right to harass or otherwise intimidate a juror."

"Communications with jurors about their obligation to speak to a party's investigator, if any, do not concern the merits of a pending judicial proceeding," he said in his email.

On Feb. 9, Judge Angelica Jimenez - who presided over the trial - denied Phipps' motion.

Connel's involvement with the building started in 2022 after Phipps ran into financial difficulties. Phipps was forced him to find a new lender or face a potential foreclosure.

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Nineteen financial institutions declined to do business with Phipps, so he turned to Connel for help.

Connel agreed to buy the building from Phipps' Emet LLC for $11 million. CDC financed $8.25 million of the purchase price, while the remaining $2.75 million debt was intended to substitute for a cash down payment from CDC, it said.

Phipps had said the parties agreed that the $2.75 million would be prepaid rent credit for his law firm and the bar. The law firm on the lease is Phipps Ortiz Talfuse PLLC, though Gabe Ortiz has not been with the firm for some time.

In early 2024, CDC sued Phipps and Holy Spirits, seeking unspecified damages and a ruling that CDC was the owner of the building.

Phipps, Holy Spirits, his law firm and Emet countersued for 16 claims, including one that sought to have the building sales contract declared void and unenforceable due to fraud.

But during the trial, the judge granted CDC's motion for a directed verdict over ownership, essentially ruling that its title to the property is superior to any claims by Phipps' Emet.

This article originally published at Attorney's law firm, swanky rooftop bar locked out of River Walk building that bears his name.