Document and Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Jan. 31, 2014 Class A Common Stock [Member]	Jan. 31, 2014 Class A Common Stock [Member] Subsidiaries of Lazard Ltd [Member]	Jan. 31, 2014 Class B Common Stock [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2013
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2013
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Trading Symbol	LAZ
Entity Registrant Name	LAZARD LTD
Entity Central Index Key	0001311370
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding			129,056,081	9,401,151	1
Entity Public Float		$ 3,886,191,338