The right attorney can only help. You need to have the right attorney in your corner from as early as possible in the process. It's not a matter of, does having an attorney make me look guilty? It's not a consideration at all. Just as the school has its own attorneys looking out for the school's interest and potentially the complainant has an attorney looking out for his or her interest, the respondent definitely needs to have somebody looking out for his or her interest. It needs to be an attorney. The question you have to ask yourself is, is something at stake? If something is at stake then you need to have an attorney.
If you're accused of sexual misconduct at college in any capacity, definitely something is at stake. Unfortunately, everything is at stake both in the short and long-term. You need to have an experienced attorney advisor in your corner from as early as possible in the process to do everything possible to try to ensure a fair process because you can't depend on the school to do the right thing and a favorable outcome, again, because so much is at stake.