In 1997, Estonian-born Airi Hammalov LLM ’01 visited New York for the very first time. It was love at first sight. Three years later, when she earned a Fulbright scholarship to study law, she saw her best chance to return to the city. “They offered me all kinds of places, but I was absolutely firm—look, it’s either New York or I’m not going anywhere,” she reflects. “New York. I just wanted to be in the middle of it.”
Today, Hammalov is a mergers and acquisitions and private equity partner in the New York office of Baker McKenzie. During her more than five years with the firm, her portfolio of large-scale, cross-border transactions has included Brunswick Corporation’s acquisition of Norway-based marine electronics company Navico for $1.5 billion and an acquisition by Swedish video gaming giant Embracer Group of Tomb Raider gaming studio. Hammalov says that she takes pride in each deal because the work reflects another passion of hers—navigating through geographic and cultural differences to find common ground.
In this Q&A, Hammalov discusses the rewards and challenges of being an M&A attorney, tells why New York holds such a special place in her heart, and talks about her new role as an honorary consul for Estonia.
Why did you decide to pursue a career in law?
The system is a little different in Europe. You have to go in to college knowing what you want to study. I decided that I wanted to study law because I wanted to become a diplomat. I was always interested in exploring the world, different cultures and languages. During my studies in Estonia, I also did an internship at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Estonia.
Even though I wanted to be a diplomat, I realized that I didn’t like bureaucracy. And I like speed. So I figured that maybe that was not the right career path. After university studies, I ended up going into private practice and working in a law firm for two years before coming to NYU Law in the LLM program.
What attracted you to New York?
Location, location, location. I wanted to be a part of its never-ending fast life. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to insist to the Fulbright scholarship team to only send me to study in NYC. Coming from a smaller place, the energy, the different people, and the speed of life is what attracted me. And I never looked back.
How was your time at NYU Law?
It was eye-opening. Studying law in Europe was much more academic, whereas at NYU Law, you were learning how to practically apply the law to transactions and business in general. The main experience though was that all of a sudden the world became very small—the LLM program has international students from all over the world, and I now had amazing friends from every corner of the globe (and of whom so many are still close friends).
What happened after you graduated from NYU Law?
Studying at NYU Law completely changed my career trajectory and opened up the whole new world of opportunities. I took the bar in New York in summer 2001, but I couldn’t stay afterwards because of visa restrictions. So I thought, “Okay, what’s the next best place?” And so I applied for jobs in London. Then I started working at Linklaters, a major international firm. After taking the requalification exam, I started working as a UK lawyer, doing M&A transactions.
After being in London for a little while, I was asked to work in the firm’s Moscow office because the M&A acquisitions in Russia were booming and I could speak Russian, too. Moscow was similar to New York back then. It was a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week city. Deals were all in billions because all the foreign investors were buying everything in Russia. I ended up staying there for almost five years, from 2002 to 2007. Moscow was flourishing. And a lot of people there thought that democracy was flourishing too. I was actually lucky because those were the best years to be there before the crisis kicked in.
Then I met my now–ex-husband in Moscow, who happened to be from New York. Because I already passed the New York bar, it was easy for me to move back and start working here. When I came to New York, I started working at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in a private equity group. And that was right before the whole 2008 financial crisis started. Weil had a market-leading bankruptcy practice and led the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. We were busy during the financial crisis when many other firms were struggling.
What do you enjoy the most about your work and what challenges you the most?
I hate routine, and M&A always gets you out of your comfort zone. When you do M&A transactions, you always have to prove yourself, learning about new industry and working with new teams. Effectively, it is a people business. As an M&A lawyer, you’re orchestrating the whole team to make sure that everyone’s on the same page. But you also have to make sure that all the T’s are crossed. That’s how the deals get closed.
What attracted me to Baker McKenzie is that I love international deals. I love working with teams all around the world. You’re working with all the cultures. And that’s my natural habitat—cultural differences. I understand because I’ve lived in so many different places. So I love working across the board with different people. For me, it’s exciting to know you’re on conference calls every day with people from Stockholm to Tokyo. I get energy from people, and that’s my thing.
What advice do you have for current students?
Just to be open. I stayed in M&A transactions because there’s a lot of energy and deals move very fast. So that fits my nature. But I have a lot of friends who have changed their focus. They started in M&A and then switched to something different. So always be open. You have time to actually check what you like or don’t like. Don’t be afraid to try different areas, especially at the start of your career. It’s much easier. You don’t have to decide, “OK. This is it.” You can try different things and be open-minded.
What ambitions are you still looking to fulfill?
I’ve always kept close contact with the growing businesses in Estonia about expanding to the US and beyond, especially in the tech field in which Estonia has become a pioneer. As of last September, I was appointed by the President of Estonia to be the honorary consul of Estonia in New York. The role is mostly about helping Estonian businesses from a wide range of industries from tech to fashion to come to the US market and raising interest amongst the US investors to invest in Estonia, but I also get to help out with our cultural initiatives—which is exciting, as this October we are planning the celebration of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s music at Carnegie Hall.
In a way, it feels like now things have been coming back full circle, because I started out wanting to be a diplomat and have now stepped into it in an honorary role. It’s the best way to beat the mid-life crisis—stay busy.
Do you feel like a New Yorker now?
Well, yes. Now that I’ve been here, what, 18 years, I don’t think I speak any language without an accent. So it’s a little weird, but that’s what it is. So I kind of feel like a New Yorker and a global citizen, too.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Posted April 24, 2025