In 1985, after a grueling trial ended in a hung jury, criminal-defense lawyers Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield decided to call it quits. The long-time business partners, then in their 40s, embarked on a radically different second career: Selling California-style pizza with unusual toppings, such as smoked gouda, cilantro and barbecued chicken. The verdict? Delicious, according to customers who mobbed the first location in Beverly Hills and prompted the lawyers-turned-restaurateurs to expand throughout Southern California. Today, publicly traded California Pizza Kitchen operates more than 250 restaurants in 33 states and...