John Hammond Muench was born in Louisville, Kentucky and raised in Atlanta where he graduated from the Westminster Schools in 1970. Jack received his B.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1974 and his Juris Doctor from the University of Louisville in 1978. Jack completed his final three semesters of law school on the Dean's List and received research assistant scholarships in the areas of federal jurisdiction and constitutional law.

Upon completing law school, Jack published the lead article in the American Bar Association's Family Law Quarterly on the impact of substantive due process theories as they apply in certain family law contexts. At the time, he was also a law clerk to Boyce F. Martin, Jr., Chief Judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, and he continued in that capacity when Judge Martin was named to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Jack attended the University of Miami where he received his Masters (LL.M.) Degree in Taxation in 1981. After practicing for a year in Atlanta, Jack moved to Greenville, where he eventually became a partner and head of the tax department of Haynsworth, Marion, McKay and Guerard.

"No field of law is more arcane than taxation, nor more foolish to ignore.  It is the duty of a citizen to pay the taxes he owes; it is the right to structure his affairs in such a way that few are owed."

Jack is admitted to all state and federal bar associations in the states of Kentucky, Georgia and South Carolina, and is a member of the Bar of the United States Tax Court.  He has been a member of the Special Problems and Sales, Exchanges and Basis committees of the Taxation Law Section of the American Bar Association. 

Jack's career has featured distinguished service to the South Carolina Bar.  He has served and is serving on the Section Councils of the Corporate, Banking and Securities and Taxation Sections of the Bar.  He was chairperson of the Corporate Banking and Securities Section in 2000, and presented the annual update speech on securities law at the Bar's annual meeting in 1997, 1998 and 2000.  Jack serves as Vice-Chairperson of the Corporate, Banking and Securities Section, his second time through that officer track.  He also serves on the Section council for the Taxation Law Section and serves as Vice-Chairperson of that Section.

Jack has also served or is serving several ad hoc committees or task forces for the Bar, including those regarding limited liability companies, law firm dissolution, and third-party opinion practice.

Jack's practice encompasses a wide variety of corporate and tax-related matters, all with a focus on adding significant value to entrepreneurial activities.  His primary areas of expertise lie in the areas of entity formations, mergers and acquisitions, partnership, corporate and individual income tax, estate planning, and securities and corporate law. He has been Certified by the South Carolina Supreme Court as a Specialist in Taxation continuously since 1987. Jack is an avid hunter and sportsman and enjoys backpacking and scuba diving.