Frank A. Symmes was admitted to the practice of law in 1910, and founded the firm in the 1920s.

He was a member of the Indiana and Indianapolis State Bar Associations, the Lawyers Club, the Capital City Masonic Lodge, Murat Shrine and Scottish Rite. He was a 33rd degree Mason.

In 1955, he and his son Charles co-authored the Symmes Edition of Indiana Criminal Law. The pair represented Connie Nicholas in her trial for the shooting of Forrest Teal, President of Eli Lilly International, in 1959.

He was the senior member of the firm at the time of his death in 1966, then known as Symmes Fleming Ober & Symmes.