Lawyer in haste docked before sailor tried (3,1,4)

I believe the answer is:

had a stab

'tried' is the definition.
(to have a stab at something is to attempt it)

'lawyer in haste docked before sailor' is the wordplay.
'lawyer' becomes 'da' (abbreviation for District Attorney).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'docked' means to remove the last letter (to dock can mean to remove the tail of an animal).
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'haste' with its last letter taken off is 'hast'.
'da' inserted into 'hast' is 'hadast'.
'hadast'+'ab'='HAD A STAB'

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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