Ruling also highly critical of ‘slapdash’ approach of claimant solicitors to running personal injury cases.
Costs judge doubts if £57,000 can be repaid as firm has since gone into liquidation.
Medical agency refused to give breakdown of its fees for arranging expert report.
Law firm Stewarts' Technology and Construction Courts case could be the biggest fatal accident claim in English history.
One creditor says failure to recover debts could put medico-legal companies out of business.
The government wants to protect victims of clinical negligence, but it may be pricing them out of making a claim.