The law firm helping Trump on business conflicts won a Russia Law Firm of the Year award

AP

The law firm helping President-elect Donald Trump mitigate his business conflicts, Morgan Lewis, won "Russia Law Firm of the Year Award" early last year, according to its website.

"Morgan Lewis has been recognized by Chambers & Partners’ 2016 Chambers Europe guide as Russia Law Firm of the Year," the firm wrote in a press release on May 2, 2016.

It continued: "The prestigious honor was announced at the publication’s recent annual awards dinner in London, where firms from 24 countries were recognized...this is the latest honor for the high-profile work performed by the lawyers in Morgan Lewis’s Moscow office."

Morgan Lewis was also hired by the Obama and Clinton campaigns in 2008 and 2016 to help them vet potential running mates, the Huffington Post noted.

Sheri Dillon, a partner at Morgan Lewis who has served as Trump's tax counsel since 2005, told reporters during a press conference at Trump Tower on Wednesday that Trump will be taking various measures to separate himself from his company prior to Inauguration Day.

"All of Mr. Trump's investments in the Trump Organization have been, or will be, conveyed to a trust prior to January 20," Dillon said.

According to the trust agreement, Trump will relinquish leadership and management of his company to his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump as well as to a longtime Trump Organization executive. Trump's daughter Ivanka will also have no further involvement with, or management authority over, the Trump Organization.

"The president-elect," Dillon said, "should not be expected to destroy the company he built."

Ethics experts, however, voiced their disapproval of the plan on Wednesday, contending it left the door open for conflicts of interest. 

NOW WATCH: Here's how much the presidency ages you