A nice magistrate disoriented in period of urgency (4,7,4)
I believe the answer is:
race against time
'period of urgency' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.
'a nice magistrate disoriented' is the wordplay.
'disoriented' is an anagram indicator.
'a'+'nice'+'magistrate'='anicemagistrate'
'anicemagistrate' anagrammed gives 'RACE AGAINST TIME'.
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for race against time that I've seen before include "in a hurry" , "neck-and-neck situation" , "in a desperate situation" , "Sporting event that may be won by the enemy" , "speed the essence here" .)