WAILUKU, Maui — A judge yesterday ordered the state and Hawaii Superferry to pay a Maui attorney's legal fees — expected to exceed $100,000 — stemming from a case to determine whether an environment assessment was needed before the new interisland ferry service could begin operating.

Attorney Isaac Hall, representing Maui Tomorrow, the Sierra Club and the Kahului Harbor Coalition, won a Hawa'i Supreme Court ruling in August that the state Department of Transportation erred in granting an environmental review exemption to $40 million in ferry-related projects at four ports.

Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza issued a temporary restraining order Aug. 27 halting the Superferry after only two days of service. Cardoza then presided over a four-week trial to determine whether any irreparable harm would be done by allowing the high-speed ferry to operate during the environmental assessment.

Hall won that battle, too, but lost the war when the Legislature and Gov. Linda Lingle came to the Superferry's rescue, approving a law that allows large-capacity interisland ferry companies to operate while environmental studies are conducted.

Cardoza subsequently ruled the new law, known as Act 2, made the environmental case moot, and he lifted an injunction that had kept the ferry tied up at dock in Honolulu.

Still, the judge yesterday said Hall was entitled to legal fees and costs for his efforts following the Aug. 23 Supreme Court ruling, with the exact amount to be determined.

Also yesterday, Maui Tomorrow executive director Irene Bowie said the nonprofit public-interest group will soon appeal Cardoza's Nov. 14 ruling that upheld Act 2.

Hall had argued the law is "special" legislation designed to benefit a specific business, and that by approving Act 2, elected leaders violated their public trust duties under the state constitution to protect Hawai'i's fragile environment, and the traditional and customary rights of Native Hawaiians.

Hawaii Superferry President and CEO John Garibaldi said yesterday that since no appeal has been filed yet, he would not comment.

Hawai'i Deputy Attorney General William Wynhoff declined to comment except to say an appeal of the Act 2 ruling would not be a surprise. "I would be surprised if they (the plaintiffs) didn't appeal," he said.

On the matter of paying Hall's legal fees, Wynhoff said it is not clear how the amount would be split between the state and Hawaii Superferry. Hall estimated the amount at $120,000.

Wynhoff also said he will recommend an appeal to state Attorney General Mark Bennett.

"I can't understand how we could have lost the motion (to pay fees) when we won the case. We have a judgment in our favor," he said, referring to Cardoza's Nov. 14 ruling.

Garibaldi said the company is "disappointed" in yesterday's decision and hasn't decided whether to appeal.

Hall said he is thankful the judge awarded him fees "for the four-week trial we were forced to go through by Hawaii Superferry and the state."

He said his three clients prevailed in court, and that the state and Hawaii Superferry "won" only by virtue of political actions that essentially overturned court rulings that had gone against them.

"If any case deserved to have legal fees awarded, it's this case, where the exemption was bogus and the public was deprived of a real environmental assessment," Hall said.

The attorney had sought $194,623 in fees and costs for 606 hours of trial time and earlier work on appeals. But Cardoza shortened the period for which Hall would be compensated to just the trial, and reduced the lawyer's proposed fees from $300 an hour to $200 an hour.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.