Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cercone received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Westminster College in 1974 and a Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law in 1977. He was in private practice in Pennsylvania from 1978 to 1979, and again from 1982 to 1985, having served in the interim as a law clerk for Judge Paul R. Zavarella of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas from 1978 to 1979, and as an assistant district attorney of the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office from 1979 to 1981. He was also a Allegheny County District Magistrate Justice from 1982 to 1985, and began teaching as adjunct faculty at the University of Pittsburgh in 1983. He was a judge on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas from 1986 to 2002, during which time he also taught as adjunct faculty at Robert Morris College from 1993 to 1995.

On March 21, 2002, Cercone was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania vacated by Donald J. Lee. Cercone was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 1, 2002, and received his commission on August 2, 2002. He assumed senior status on November 24, 2017.

• David S. Cercone at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.