Why might the citation rules vary for state and federal cases?

The reason why local rules may dictate specific citation formats is that different jurisdictions can establish their own procedures and guidelines to accommodate their unique practices and preferences. Each state may have its own rules regarding how legal cases, statutes, and other legal documents should be cited to ensure consistency within that jurisdiction. These local rules can help to clarify what is expected in legal writing and contribute to clarity and efficiency in legal communications within that specific area.

While it can be accurate to imply that state citation practices might appear more complex due to these variations, this does not capture the core issue. Uniformity in federal cases does not negate that there might still be instances where local variations are adopted even at the federal level. The nature of the case influencing citation rules is not generally the case—if anything, citation conventions are more focused on jurisdictional preferences than the characteristics of the legal matter itself.