A group of Richmond lawyers is rushing to the defense of Richmond General District Court Judge Birdie Hairston Jamison as word circulates that the 57-year-old jurist is among three judges the General Assembly might refuse to re-elect to new terms.

Norfolk Circuit Court Judge Karen Burrell, who like Judge Jamison is African-American, and Virginia Beach General District Court Judge Pamela E. Hutchens are the others.

The Hill-Tucker Bar Association issued a strong letter of support for Judge Jamison ahead of her interview 4 p.m. Friday with the legislative committees charged with recommending new terms for sitting judges.

Judge Jamison, who has heard traffic cases for 23 years and previously was routinely elected to fresh six-year terms, has provided “excellent service and judicial performance,” association president Stacy E. Lee wrote Tuesday in outlining the views of the bar association.

“She demands fairness and equitable treatment of all parties appearing before her,” Ms. Lee wrote. Those appearing before Judge Jamison “can expect consistency and impartiality” in the way their cases are handled, she said.

Ms. Lee stated that the association believes Judge Jamison conducts court proceedings “with dignity” and ensures “the law is strictly followed,” calling that “evidence she holds true to the standards expected of a jurist.”

According to the association, Judge Jamison is the state’s longest serving traffic court judge. Among the six judges in Richmond General District Court, Judge Jamison is listed as chief judge on the court’s websites.

Her future on the bench appears to be in question based on results of a survey of lawyers who have appeared before her in the past 12 months. The survey is a new tool the General Assembly’s House and Senate Courts of Justice committees are using to rate judicial performance.

The wording of Ms. Lee’s letter is based on the areas the survey seeks to measure, such as competence, judicial temperament, legal knowledge and treatment of people in her court.

Based on the results from 133 lawyers who responded to her survey, Judge Jamison appears to have received the worst ratings among the jurists up for reappointment.

Only 56 percent of those who returned surveys rated Judge Jamison’s overall performance as good or excellent, with virtually all the rest rating her as needing improvement or unsatisfactory.

A rating less than 75 percent would be considered below average.

Among the 18 questions, her lowest rating, 52.7 percent, came on the question of the “respect shown by the judge for all court participants.”

The results are a far cry from 2010 when Virginia Lawyers Weekly, a respected legal publication, named her to its list of 50 influential women.

VLW glowingly described Judge Jamison “as a mentor to the lawyers who practice before her bench as well as to countless others she has inspired through her efforts to reach young people with her advice. As one nominator put it, ‘She truly believes in reaching back to bring others forward.’ Another common observation was that, in her courtroom, no litigant gets drive-by justice. All who have business before the court are accorded respect as well as an opportunity to be heard.”

Judge Jamison is one of 32 sitting judges set to be interviewed Friday in House Room C of the General Assembly Building in Capitol Square. The final decision on their fates will not be made until the start of the new General Assembly session in mid-January. Most are expected to be re-elected.

One of those whose fate may already have been decided is Judge Burrell, who has served since July 2007 and now is chief judge of Norfolk Circuit Court.

A former prosecutor in Norfolk for 13 years, she is the only sitting judge who was not invited to interview — a signal that she lacks the support of the legislative delegation from her area.

In part, that may be due to the ratings of lawyers who have appeared before her in the past three years. She received a below average 66 percent positive rating for her overall performance from the 157 lawyers who responded to her survey.

Others see her as part of a line of African-American judges from Hampton Roads who have been unable to gain re-election. At least six have been forced to retire or gotten the boot in recent years.

State Sen. Kenneth C. Alexander of Norfolk, a former chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, would only say the Hampton Roads delegation to the legislature generally reserves the interviews for sitting judges who “are not controversial.”

He said he and others hear about the performance of judges from constituents and must consider what they are told. He dismissed any concerns that race might be a factor in Judge Burrell’s case.

While he did not mention the case, Judge Burrell apparently has faced heightened scrutiny ever since she took the unusual step of setting aside a jury’s 2010 guilty verdict in a murder case after finding there was reasonable doubt that the convicted defendant was the shooter. The same defendant now is facing a murder charge in a July shooting.

Influential lawyers, who came out on the losing side in her court in other cases, also are said to be lobbying against her.

Meanwhile, Judge Hutchens of Virginia Beach also is said to be facing trouble to gain six more years on the General District Court bench.

Named to the court in 1997, Judge Hutchens received a below average 65 percent positive rating for her overall performance as a judge from the 144 lawyers who responded to her survey.