While practicing law in California, Andrew Puzder represented corporate and individual clients including Carl Karcher, the financially troubled founder of the Carl’s Jr. restaurant chain. Mr. Puzder resolved Karcher’s financial problems, kept Karcher out of bankruptcy and enabled him to retain a significant ownership in the company he had worked so hard to build. In 1997, Mr. Puzder was named Executive Vice President and General Counsel for CKE Restaurants. That same year, CKE purchased Hardee’s Food Systems, Inc., a distressed brand that burdened CKE with over $700 million in debt following the acquisition. Faced with serious financial and operational issues, CKE’s Board of Directors named Puzder as president and CEO of both Hardee’s Food Systems CKE Restaurants, Inc. Puzder's book Job Creation: How It Really Works and Why Government Doesn’t Understand It, i provides a framework for instilling strong optimism among U.S. businesses to create millions of new jobs.