The Bachelorette’s Ben Castoriano photos and brief bio

So far we’ve had an accountant and a butcher in our list of The Bachelorette contestants competing for Ashley Hebert in Season 7 of the popular ABC reality series. Now, thanks to 28-year-old Ben Castoriano of New Orleans, we can add a lawyer to the list!

Originally born in Paris, France and raised in London, England, Ben earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Richmond, and went on to get his law degree from Tulane University Law School. While at Tulane, Mr. Castoriano earned his Certificate in International Business from Queen Mary Intellectual Property Institute in London, England. He also worked as an extern for United States District Judge Sarah S. Vance in the Eastern District of Louisiana.

At the time taping began on The Bachelorette, Ben Castoriano was employed at the Frilot, LLC law firm in New Orleans and worked mainly in commercial litigation. His high-profile and big-dollar-amount cases include a $20 million settlement for ION Geophysical Corporation and an ongoing case representing the company Waste Management politically-charged contract dispute that involves claims of over $80 million in penalties.

In addition to commercial litigation, Ben has also exercised his legal chops in cases involving railroad litigation, intellectual property and employment litigation.

Ben already has a Facebook fan club that at the time of this post is already 31 members strong!

As a caution to Ashley Hebert, Ben also has a much older Facebook group dedicated to him called “Ben Castoriano never returns my calls.” Here’s the description from the group page:

You call. You call again. Through the grapevine (facebook) you hear that he wants to hang out. So you call. And call again. And lo, and, dare I say “behold”, no phone call ever comes.

Uh oh. that could be a bad sign.

But, in Ben’s favor, at least we know he can dance. Sort of. Check out this wedding reception video featuring Ben Castoriano getting his funk on in a tux! (Ben begins his sensual maneuvers at right around the 47 second mark.)

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m getting a Jonathan Novack/Weatherman vibe here.

Be sure to check out our other Bachelorette profiles including our much more in depth “Bachelorette Files” on restaurant owner and real estate agent Constantine “Dino” Tzortzis and wine maker Benajmin Flajnik!

Top photo: Craig Sjodin/ABC Television Group ©2011 Disney