What recourse against me would a professor have for my filing a formal complaint?

[eliot]

I have filed a formal complaint against a professor, and I am now being prompted by the university administration to confer with legal counsel before continuing with the process. In a nutshell, my complaint outlines several situations including extortion, slander, and harassment. I am not seeking any damages. I am however hoping that my letter will make it so that these offenses do not happen again. I know that there may be a legal hair to split in that my accusations may make the university liable for negligence in letting this all happen.

In the end, with these simple facts being known, what (if any) grounds would the accused professor and/or the university have against me. I am not in any position to be paying large sums of money for an attorney, but I don't want these infractions to go unnoticed.

[josephus]

If you've let the process go this far, it's definitely time to contact an attorney. Unless you have strong evidence to back up these allegations the professor could call for an academic hearing to evaluate your standing at the university. If he can prove that you made baseless and damaging allegations against him, it may be enough to get you suspended or expelled.

[edin]

If you are unable to prove your allegations then the professor could sue you for damaging his reputation and putting his job in jeopardy. A lawyer would help make sure this does not happen.