Think lawyers are slow to change? Well, not the ones behind these three new apps designed to make law better.

Miranda

Mastermind: Sean Robichaud, criminal defence lawyer

In a nutshell: TripAdvisor for lawyers

Bells and whistles: A directory of legal professionals that users can search based on criteria like location, years of experience, expertise and price

How it makes money: Lawyers pay about $950 per year to be listed

Claim to fame: Robichaud is a co-founder of King Law Chambers (and a former Precedent magazine cover star)

Legalswipe

Mastermind: Christien Levien, a first-year sole practitioner

In a nutshell: Free legal information for dealing with the police

Bells and whistles: The app guides users through an encounter with the police, informs them of their rights and records videos that are sent to their Dropbox

How it makes money: It doesn’t. Legalswipe is a free educational tool

Claim to fame: During launch week, it crashed from the flurry of downloads

StandIn

Masterminds: Andrew Johnston, Osgoode Hall master’s student, and Peter Carayiannis, founder of Conduit Law

In a nutshell: Helps lawyers find colleagues to cover short-notice court appearances

Bells and whistles: GPS lets users contact lawyers close to specific courthouses, and those lawyers can charge whatever they like to make an appearance

How it makes money: $7.50 usage fees

Claim to fame: Brought to life in the Ryerson Digital Media Zone, a startup incubator

This story is from our Fall 2015 issue.