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thanks!

Don't most journals have like an honorary no-credit-but-don't-have-to-do-shit option anyway? I assumed this is what all the 3Ls not in leadership positions did.

I think it may depend on the school and the journal. Most of the times I've seen this come up are when someone gets on journal and wants to drop it after getting through OCI (before doing any work for the journal, that is), and I've seen people state that schools will tell your firm you did this. But in part, I think, this is because accepting a position is seen as making some kind of commitment. At my school, LR required a 2 year commitment, whereas the secondaries had only a 1 year commitment (so you could join as a 3L or bail after 2L). If your school/journal allows 1 year commitments, I don't think there's any need to tell your firm. If they normally require a 2-year commitment, it might be a closer call (though I think it would be way less of an issue as accepting a position then dropping it after OCI).

(My school gave 3Ls the option of 1 credit for 50 hrs/semester or 2 credits for 100/hrs, but there was no no-credit-no-work option. But if you took the 1 credit option you could get away with almost no contact with the board, especially the EIC. But again, I think this comes down to what your school/journal regulations are.)

Yes, you're supposed to. Some journals will tell you explicitly that you have to notify your firms, thats why most people don't quit their journals. I've even heard of stories of EICs calling peoples employers letting them know that so and so is no longer part of the journal.