Chicago's two lawyers' associations have criticised a judicial candidate who secretly changed his name to Patrick O'Brien in an effort to win the Irish vote.
The issue has become a hot topic in Chicago legal circles where "Irishisation" of names with fake fadas and contrived use of the maiden names of grandmothers has seen judges elected for decades.
However, Fred Rhine has gone one step further, legally changing his name to Patrick Michael O'Brien, even changing the answering machine message at the large legal firm where he works.
Michael Hyman, head of the Chicago Bar Association, said the tactic was "completely wrong".
"It's like Prince changing his name to the Artist Formerly Known as Prince. This is the lawyer formerly known as Fred Rhine. It didn't work for Prince; it won't work for this guy."
Mr Hyman said Mr Rhine would make a very good judge, but his actions would be detrimental to the reputation of lawyers. "I bet he doesn't even know the words to Danny Boy, and here he is Patrick Michael O'Brien."
According to Carrie K. Huff, president of the Chicago Council of Lawyers, having an Irish name has a significant impact on getting elected.
However, she said Mr Rhine's name change was a gimmick and unhelpful to his cause. "Strategic name changes and other cheap gimmicks strongly suggests that a candidate lacks the character and judgment to be on the bench."
Ms Huff said Mr Rhine would be a competent judge but his tactics were all wrong.
"The system is definitely wrong. The voters don't have enough information on the candidates but this isn't the way to resolve it."
However, yesterday Mr O'Brien, or Mr Rhine, defended his actions but admitted that he was hoping his name change would not be discovered until after the election.
"The system is a joke; I'm not the problem," he said. "If only my father's father's father's father had an Irish surname, I'd be elected too."
He said three of the four Chicago lawyers with the surname Rhine had run for election and all three were defeated.
Mr Rhine, who spent $30,000 on his unsuccessful run three years ago, said a merit system should be introduced to select qualified candidates so voters don't simply opt for their own ethnic group.
Asked why he didn't simply change his name from Rhine to the similar-sounding Irish surname Ryan, Mr Rhine said that that name had become tarnished in Chicago.
"We had the former governor George Ryan on trial for various misdeeds, then we had Jack Ryan who had to drop out of the last senate race because of a sex scandal, then we had Jim Ryan who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2002. Ryan no longer works."