Already with a major lead in fundraising, Mayor Peter Carlisle is holding a $1,000-per-person fundraiser at the Paiko Lagoon home of a rail attorney this Saturday. It’s Carlisle’s first fundraiser in nearly a year.

A filing with the Campaign Spending Commission Monday shows Bert Kobayashi is hosting the fundraiser at his Summer Street residence. There’s a price break if you bring your significant other — couples are encouraged to donate $1,500.

Kobayashi, a partner at Kobayashi, Sugita and Goda, personally contributed $1,200 to Carlisle’s re-election effort last March, campaign finance records show. That same day, six other attorneys at his firm contributed a total of $2,800 more. (Interestingly, one of those attorneys is Lex Smith. A man with the same name and listing the firm’s address serves as Kirk Caldwell‘s campaign chair.)

According to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser story last month (subscription required), Kobayashi’s firm has pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees representing the city in challenges to its rail project. Here are the pertinent grafs:

• $335,290 for the Hawaii-based firm Kobayashi Sugita & Goda, which was hired to defend procurement process challenges that led to the selection of Ansaldo Honolulu JV for a core systems contract. The firm also provided the city advice on issues related to bonds.

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• The Council also authorized up to $141,500 to pay Kobayashi Sugita & Goda to defend against a complaint filed against the city by Communications Pacific Inc. in connection with a dispute about the 2005 city contract awarded for the rail system alternatives analysis.