[MO] I have a publication coming out that makes me out to be a private investigator, but I have no license, and was never actually a PI. What could happen?

It's true, but the information was communicated to me in a medium I no longer have access to.

Essentially, it discusses a young woman who committed suicide after her university did not intervene after being made aware of her intention to commit suicide. At their request, I attempted to get her name, but was only have to find it later, after she was dead and her obituary was public. Her name ended up being the same as my name, as very generic name.

I do have those emails (the school emails) as well as copies of her deleted posts. But I do not have her chats anymore.

However the essay in part discusses her family's profession and her course of study at school, as well as the city she grew up in (which, coincidentally, was where my parents grew up) I think that anyone with some skill could probably put two and two together.

Legally speaking, could I be in trouble for defamation with the school/the student's family, when I don't specifically point them out and you have to hustle to find them?

/r/legaladvice Thread Parent